Seabees working at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, while an aircraft lands. Beginning in 1955, Seabees began deploying yearly to the continent of Antarctica. As participants in Operation Deep Freeze, their mission was to build and expand scientific bases located on the frozen continent. The first “wintering over” party included 200 Seabees who distinguished themselves by constructing a 6,000-foot ice runway on McMurdo Sound. Despite a blizzard which once destroyed the entire project, the airstrip was completed in time for the advance party of Deep Freeze II to become the first men to arrive at the South Pole by plane. The Seabees next assignment was to build a permanent scientific base on the continent. Over the following years, and under the most adverse conditions, Seabees added to their list of accomplishments such things as snow-compacted roads, underground storage, laboratories, and living areas. One of the most notable achievements took place in 1962 when the Navy’s builders constructed the continent’s first nuclear power plant at McMurdo Station. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1967:Firefighters from NMCB 9 and neighboring Marine units waged a successful day-long battle to contain a fire which threatened to destroy major exchange facilities at the Freedom Hill Recreation Center near Da Nang, RVN. Despite the combined efforts of Marine and Seabee units, a post office, warehouse, and several small shops were lost. The task of cleaning debris from the twisted metal remains of two 40 x 200-foot buildings began immediately as part of the effort essential to reconstruct the devastated facilities.

1967: Seabee Team 0912 departed the main body at Da Nang, RVN, via C-118 aircraft for the 31st NCR to commence military and technical training.

2004: Reserve Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Two Three (NMCB-23), poured concrete as they work to complete an extensive repair job which included making permanent repairs to 39 swimming pool-size impact craters on different sections of the Al Asad, Iraq airfield runways. The craters, a result of bombing during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, have left the airfield inoperable for more than a year. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

November 20

Nov. 20-28, 1943: During World War II, the island campaign of the Central Pacific began. Tarawa, Makin and Apamama in the Gilbert Islands fell between Nov. 20-28. The toughest objective was the fortress of Betio, main island of the Tarawa Atoll. A savage air and naval bombardment razed the above-ground defenses, but the well dug in Japanese defenders took a toll of nearly 1,000 American dead in one of the costliest island seizures of the Pacific War. D-Day plus 4 saw the first echelons of the 74th and 98th NCBs come ashore at Tarawa. The big problem was cleaning up ravaged Betio Island. As a base, it has been wrecked. Ruins, decaying food dumps, thousands of dead from both sides and chaos met the occupiers. The Seabees had to clear and grade virtually every square foot of the island, and put Tarawa’s Japanese airstrip in use less than a day after landing. Keeping it in continuous operation, they resurfaced and lengthened the runway to 6,000 feet. In addition, they erected a fuel farm and housing facilities, and inventive Seabees used Japanese materials to rebuild Tarawa’s principal dock.

1956:The Seabees had long been used to working tropical jungles and even in the extreme cold of Alaska, but Operation Deep Freeze took them to the coldest and most desolate area on earth. On November 20, eight Seabees and 11 dogs were landed by plane near the geographical South Pole to begin construction of South Pole Station, the first permanent camp at the South Pole. Thanks to the Seabees, Antarctica was later able to boast snow-compacted roads and runways, underground storage and comfortable living areas. Read “Rendezvous with Penguins: Seabee Construction of the South Pole Dome” on SEABEE Online.

1966:Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 62’s advance party of 6 officers and 109 men arrived at Phu Bai, RVN, to begin the Battalion Equipment Evaluation Program (BEEP) and prepare to relieve NMCB 7.

2010:Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 filled a dump truck with dirt from a project in Bastion, the British base connected to Camp Leatherneck, for a project in Camp Leatherneck. NMCB-3 was part of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command warfighting support elements providing construction operations and security in support of overseas contingency operations. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

November 21

1945: 21st NCB inactivated on Okinawa.

1965: NMCB 9 named its camp in honor of Steward 3rd Class Restituto P. Adenir, who was the first member of NMCB 9 killed in Vietnam (October 28, 1965).

1967: Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) requests that the Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) be advised by naval commands and project offices engaged in oceanographic and deep sea development and/or operational activities for which facility/construction requirements may be generated or required of program developments on a continuing basis “in order that the advancements in NAVFAC and Seabee underwater construction capabilities are matched to emerging operational requirements.”

November 22

1960:During the summer, an unusual rainfall caused Lake Miragoane, near Mira, Haiti, to rise and virtually isolate the southern tip of Haiti. Haitian Army engineers called on the United States to help. A Seabee detachment from Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 was sent to the area. The detachment constructed a bridge and improved six miles of road leading to it. On November 22, the bridge and road were dedicated. The dedication ceremonies were attended by the U.S. ambassador to Haiti and numerous Haitian government officials.

November 23

1943: ACORN 14 and ACORN 17 arrived at Tarawa. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)

November 24

1944: The necessity of building an airstrip on Samar Island in the Philippines became evident even before American forces landed there, so three Seabees and a geologist were landed to make a survey under the very noses of the Japanese. Led by Cmdr. Bradford Bowker, officer in charge (OIC), NCB 61, the group boarded a Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM) on the night of Nov. 23, and silently stole ashore the following morning. Any thought of a secret landing was dispelled, however, as the small group reached shore. There, 5,000 cheering Filipinos stood to greet them. Instead of a sneak survey, the adventure turned into a wild party of eating, drinking and dancing. It seems that Bowker, a tall man with a hawk-like profile, was mistaken by the natives for Gen. Douglas MacArthur and nothing the commander could say convinced them otherwise. The next day, the “secret” survey was made and three days later the Seabees left the island with the location of the future airstrip determined.

1967: Second increment of NMCB 58’s advance party arrived at Da Nang, RVN.

1992: The U.S. formally turned over the naval installations at Subic Bay and Cubi Point to the Republic of the Philippines, ending almost half a century of Seabee construction and maintenance at both installations.

2012: Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 27 and peacekeepers at the CREOMPAZ military base in Coban, Guatemala poured a concrete pad as part of a renovation project in support of U.S. Southern Command’s Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative. The Seabees from NMCB 27 were forward deployed throughout South and Central America in support of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet peacekeeping, multinational partnership, and humanitarian assistance missions. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)
]]>This Week in Seabee History (November 11 – 17)http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/11/11/this-week-in-seabee-history-november-11-17/
Sun, 11 Nov 2018 13:00:47 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=17507Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command

Steelworker 1st Class Joseph Perrott, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Two Three (NMCB 23), cut steel plating used to enhance tactical vehicle armor, 13 November 2004. Perrott and fellow Seabees worked under threat of hostile fire to armor dozens of vehicles for combat and patrol operations in the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, Iraq. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Mid-November

2001: The call came for NMCB 133 to provide direct support for Operation Enduring Freedom and an Air Det Heavy was stood up as U.S. Marine led coalition force for offensive operations in Afghanistan. Organized under Brigadier General Mattis, the 1st MEB commander out of Pendleton, the Air Det Heavy went in country on 28 November as Task Force 58.5 with the Operations Officer as the Air Det Heavy OIC being a direct report to the commanding general. The Air Det was organized in two elements, the small lead element of 27 Seabees to go to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Rhino to maintain a dry lake airstrip and provide rudimentary contingency construction and the remainder of the Air Det Heavy to follow on into Kandahar to help establish a permanent operating base by providing Rapid Runway Repair (RRR) and contingency construction.

2005: NMCB 3 turned over with NMCB 133 in Fallujah Iraq and redeployed to Kuwait in order to setup mainbody operations in Kuwait to support of Combined Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) and Area Support Group, Kuwait. NMCB 3 established the new Main Body deployment site from scratch while integrating over 145 personnel from NMCB 21, and 139 personnel from the Army’s 63rd Construction Support Element. NMCB 3 worked with the Army to develop a master plan for what is now the Seabee main body deployment site. While deployed to Kuwait, NMCB 3 successfully completed over 20,000 man days of tasking, and completed 58 tasked projects in direct support of the CFLCC mission.

November 11

1962: During Typhoon Karen which struck Guam, winds reached 142 miles per hour with gusts of up to 200 miles per hour. The typhoon injured hundreds of people and left nine dead. Damage to U.S. defense facilities reached $200 million. NMCB 5, stationed on Guam at the time of the typhoon, aided in restoring the wrecked island. The shops and much of the equipment of the Seabees had been destroyed, but with what they still had, they worked hard and fast. They erected plywood housing and canvas tents to shelter the homeless, cleared debris from roads and streets, and rebuilt bridges. Seabee electricians raised 1,000 new power line poles and restored light, power, and communications to the island. NMCB 11 arrived in December and a massive reconstruction program was started. By early 1963, Guam’s naval facilities began to look normal again.

1968: An unnamed street in Gulfport, Mississippi was named Engram Drive in honor of Capt. Robert C. Engram, Gulfport Seabee Center commanding officer.

2005: Children living at the Thuri Park Tent Village lived in donated tents in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan. U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven Four (NMCB-74), built and installed latrines for displaced families. The United States was participating in a multi-national assistance and support effort led by the Pakistani Government to bring aid to the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck the region on 8 October 2005. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Naval Seabee Museum)

November 12

1942:43rd NCB activated at Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.

1942:Camp Peary, Williamsburg, Virginia established.

1945:111th NCB inactivated on Samar, Philippines.

1967: NMCB 5 advance party arrived at Camp Barnes, RVN.

1969: Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 1 was established in the 21st NCR as a unit to conduct training and to perform construction, as required, to support Navy underwater projects.

1970:Seabee Team 4004 returned from Xuan Loc, RVN for reassignment to NMCB 40.

November 14

1967: The first increment of NMCB 58’s advance party arrived at Da Nang, RVN. The commanding officer of NMCB 10 moved from Gia Le to the Quang Tri Forward Combat Base, RVN, and established the battalion headquarters there.

1968: Railroad Bridge No. 1, first of three being rebuilt by NMCB 1’s detail Foxtrot around Lap An Bay, RVN, is completed.

1983: NMCB 1, then deployed at Rota, Spain sent a survey team to Beirut after being alerted of a potential tasking in support of the U.S. Marines who were part of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon. The tasking consisted of improving the living conditions of the Marines located at the Beirut International Airport. On Thanksgiving Day Detail Bravo Lima, consisting of 1 CEC officer and 38 Seabees departed the battalion main body for Beirut. In January 1984 the tasking was expanded; and on 5 January a second increment, consisting of an additional CEC officer and 39 Seabees was sent to Beirut. The battalion also shipped 61 pieces of equipment to Beirut in support of Detail Bravo Lima. The tasking was completed and the first increment returned on 17 February 1984; the second increment and the 61 pieces of equipment returned on 1 March 1984. This was the first involvement of Seabees under combat conditions since the Vietnam conflict.

2014:Capt. Frederick Mucke, CEC, relieved Capt. Gary Rouse, CEC, as commodore of the 7th NCR during a change of command ceremony aboard Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Mississippi. The regiment ushered in a new era with the change of command and the relocation of its headquarters from Newport, Rhode Island to Gulfport, Mississippi.

November 16

1945:29th Special NCB inactivated at Guam.

2004: Chief Engineering Aide Ardell Ball, center, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction battalion Four (NMCB-4), studied an aerial photograph of the streets in Fallujah, Iraq, as a Seabee-led damage assessment team prepares to survey the battle-scarred city during Operation Al Fajr (New Dawn). The team also included U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Engineer Group, NMCB-23, and soldiers from the U.S. Army Bravo 445 Civil Affairs team. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

November 17

1969:Because of curtailment of Department of Defense operating funds and completion of major construction tasks in Southeast Asia, seven Naval Mobile Construction Battalions were slated for retirement by the end of the year. The first four battalions disestablished included: NMCB 9 at Port Hueneme, California; NMCB 128 at Gulfport, Mississippi; and NMCB 6 and NMCB 58 at Davisville, Rhode Island. In December 1969, NMCB 8, 11 and 53 were disestablished.

2010:Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 and sailors from the guided-missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) unloaded supplies to be given to veterans during the VA Stand-Down in Biloxi, Miss. The VA Stand-Down is a one-day event providing free food, clothing, health screenings, Social Security benefits counseling and other services to homeless veterans in the Gulf Coast area. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

November 6

November 7

1971: Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5 arrived at their homeport of Port Hueneme, California. This was the last full battalion to depart from Vietnam. Their departure marked the end of a significant chapter in the Seabee effort in Vietnam, an effort which began at Chu Lai in 1965 and resulted in the construction of approximately $200 million worth of facilities in support of U.S. forces.

2012: Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, from Gulfport, Miss., loaded a bulldozer full of debris that was caused by Hurricane Sandy during to relief efforts in Staten Island, New York, ahead of a forecasted storm. NMCB-11 is operating under the U.S. Northern Command Defense Support of Civil Authorities mission, working closely with civil authorities and the Federal Emergency Management Agency following the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

November 8

1942: Seabees encountered their first combat in the European theater of operations when they landed with the assault forces on the beaches of North Africa. The Seabees built facilities at Oran, Casablanca, Safi, and Fedala. Later, as the American Army moved across Africa toward Tunisia and the final showdown with the Germans, the Seabees built staging and training areas along the coast as far as Arzeu. On the west coast of Africa, the Seabees built a huge Naval Air Station in Port Lyautey, Morocco and supplementary air and supply bases at Agadir and Casablanca. Through these later ports poured materials, men, and equipment needed for the coming invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland.

1944: 13th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) inactivated.

1945: 20th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) inactivated on Okinawa.

1969: Seabee Teams 1113 and 1114 transferred to NMCB 3 to become Seabee Teams 0315 and 0316, respectively, due to disestablishment of NMCB 11.

1971:Seabee Teams 1021 and 1022 commenced Seabee Team Training.

2011: Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 40, defended their camp in a simulated firefight as part of their final evaluation during a training exercise at Forth Hunter Liggett, California. NMCB 40 was participating in its final field training exercise and evaluation before their upcoming U.S. Pacific Command deployment in November. The battalion was scheduled for decommission at the conclusion of their deployment in September 2012. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

November 10

]]>This Week in Seabee History (October 28 – November 3)http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/10/28/this-week-in-seabee-history-october-28-november-3/
Sun, 28 Oct 2018 12:00:38 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=17375Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage CommandCorrespondence from LCDR Anderson to Admiral Moreell telling him of Sea Bee Paule’s birth and naming, 31 October 1944. “I believe that you may have heard of the little French baby girl at whose birth I arrived while serving with the Eighty First Construction Battalion in Norwaudie. The enclosed certificate is a facsimile of the birth record presented me by the mayor of the village in which the baby was born. I thought that you might care to see it.” (Photo courtesy of U.S. Naval Seabee Museum)

To learn more abou the baby named after the Seabee’s, please visit the article from the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum here.

October 28

1965:At Marble Mountain, Da Nang East, RVN, Viet Cong bands with mortars and satchel explosives blasted an air facility and a badly-needed advanced base hospital being built by NMCB 9. The assault killed two Seabees and wounded over 90. Eight Quonset huts housing surgical, laboratory, X-ray and other wards lay in shambles. The Seabees paused to honor their dead and then set about rebuilding the hospital. They erected and outfitted the surgical and clinical wards, added living quarters, and opened the 400-bed hospital in less than three months.

October 29

1943: 132nd NCB inactivated at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, California.

1944:9th NCR inactivated.

1945: 8th Special NCB inactivated at Port Hueneme, California.

1967: Seabee Team 1010 departed Thailand and arrived at 31st NCR for leave and debriefing.

October 30

1966:In a ceremony at the Sands Point Naval Air Station (NAS), Seattle, Washington, Rear Adm Lewis C. Coxe, commander of the Southwest Division of Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), presented the Perry Award to the commanding officer of Reserve Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 18. This was the first year the Perry Trophy was awarded. The Perry Trophy competition provides a yardstick for measuring the mobilization capability of each Reserve MCB. Military and operational readiness, manning level, overall proficiency, leadership and morale are considered in the selection process.

1966: Personnel of NMCB 7 assembled to pay tribute to one of their own. In a brief ceremony, the battalion camp at Phu Bai, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), was dedicated in memory of a lost shipmate, Steelworker (Erector) 3rd Class Stanley Claus Campbell. On August 25, 1966, Campbell gave his life on the defensive perimeter of the camp which now bore his name.

October 31

1941: The Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Rear Adm Chester W. Nimitz, authorized the Bureau of Yards and Docks to establish a Headquarters Construction Company of 99 men. Resident Officers in Charge of Construction (ROICC) were to utilize the men as engineering aids and administrators, and as inspectors and supervisors to oversee the work of civilian construction contractors at overseas bases. It was not contemplated that the company would do any actual construction work.

1959: Seabees with NMCB-6 burying a power plant in Rota, Spain, 31 October 1959. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Naval Seabee Museum)

1966: NMCB 8 advance party arrived at Chu Lai, RVN.

November 1

1943: Aviation, Construction, Ordnance, Repair, Navy (ACORN) 15 arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia. ACORNs were advanced base units consisting of combat aircraft service personnel and a Seabee detachment. Their responsibility was the construction, administration, operation, and maintenance of new or existing airfields during World War II.

1945: After World War II, several naval activities were transferred to or established at Port Hueneme, California. The Advance Base Proving Grounds at Davisville, Rhode Island was disestablished and the operations, men, and equipment were transferred to Port Hueneme, later known as the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory.

1945:76th NCB inactivated on Guam.

1960:NMCB 8 reactivated.

1965:The first units of 300 Seabee-built homes at the U.S. Naval Station Rota, Spain opened to occupancy through a joint effort of NMCBs 4, 7 and 8. Construction commenced on the housing project in July 1964.

1966: Seabee Team 0909 completed training at the 31st NCR and deployed to Thailand via C-130 aircraft. NMCB 3 advance party departed for the continental United States (CONUS).

1967:“Ghost Battalion” disestablished in the RVN. Cmdr. Foley returned and resumed command of NMCB 3.

2014: NMCB 25 officially concluded battalion operations in Afghanistan with the casing of its colors in a ceremony at New Kabul Compound, Afghanistan. This ended 13 years of Naval Construction Force operations in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

November 2

1942: The offices of Director, Atlantic Division and Director, Pacific Division, Bureau of Yards and Docks were established with the Director given authority to act for the Chief of the Bureau.

2005: On Nov. 2, Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74 and a Pakistani engineering company worked together to clear debris caused by the earthquake in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan. The United States was participating in a multi-national assistance and support effort led by the Pakistani Government to bring aid to the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck the region on 8 October 2005. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Naval Seabee Museum)

November 3

1942: 36th NCB arrives at Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia, the first Seabee unit to train at the camp.

1945: 117th NCB inactivated at Saipan.

1968: Seabee Team 0310 moved from Long Xuyen to Bac Lieu, RVN via convoy.

Photograph of the first Chief Petty Officers of the Seabees at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, January 1942. In October 1941, the first Chief Petty Officers were reassigned from the fleet into the newly created Headquarters Construction Companies, the predecessor to the Construction Battalions. After December 7, 1941, these units were merged into the First Naval Construction Battalion which left the states for Bora Bora on January 27, 1942. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

2010: Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 40 ran for cover to nearby bunkers at the sound of a rocket attack during a concrete placement for a project site in Konduz, Aghanistan. NMCB-40 was working in various locations around the country in support of the International Security Assistance Force. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1967: The first Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officer to be killed in Vietnam was Lt. Joseph J. Rhodes, a member of Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 121. Rhodes was riding in a jeep that struck a land mine and he died from multiple shrapnel wounds. Two other occupants of the jeep, Chief Steelworker Gordon J. Dibble and Builder (Concrete) 3rd Class Jon R. Morbay, were also killed. A Seabee camp at Quang Tri, RVN was later dedicated in Rhodes’ memory. A plaque bearing the inscription, “Camp Rhodes Dedicated in Honor of Lt Joseph John Rhodes, Killed in Action October 23, 1967” was unveiled by Rear Admiral A.C. Husband, then Chief of Civil Engineers.

October 24

1942: Armorers of the 34th Naval Construction Battalion worked to keep their weapons in first-class condition at all times on a Pacific island during World War II. The African American 34th Naval Construction Battalion was commissioned by Rear Admiral Lewis B. Combs at Camp Allen, Norfolk, VA. The 34th NCB was the first African American Seabee battalion in the Navy. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1944: Tank mounted flame throwers became a productive weapon for routing Japanese soldiers out of caves and pillboxes during the Second World War. A composite group was set up to assist the Army’s Chemical Warfare personnel in developing this weapon. Included in the group were an officer and 25 Seabees from the 117th NCB. After several demonstrations, the flame throwing tank proved to be generally satisfactory except for one technical detail, which the tankmen said was a distinct disadvantage. The Seabees set to work on a design for a functional modification of the weapon. Not only did the Seabee design eliminate the objectionable feature of the prior models, but it greatly reduced the number of moving parts. At its first demonstration on October 24, 1944, the new weapon was given enthusiastic approval by tankmen and chemical warfare officers. In addition to building these flame thrower tanks, Seabees also instructed tankmen how to operate them. The Seabee instructors assisted in making experts out of Army and Marine tankmen before the tanks went into action in such places at Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Peleliu.

October 27

1943: During the invasion of Mono Island in the Treasury group of the Solomon Islands, a party of Seabees from NCB 87 landed within an hour after the assault began. The party, headed by Lt. Charles E. Turnbull, CEC, U.S. Naval Reserve, also included Machinist Mate 1st Class (Construction Battalion – Equipment Operator) Aurelio Tassone and his 20-ton bulldozer. The assaulted troops were being held down by fierce Japanese gunfire from cannon and machine guns hidden in a strongly built pillbox. After some discussion, it was decided that Tassone would see what his dozer could do to it. Raising his blade for protection, and supported by Turnbull, who was armed with a carbine, Tassone rushed the pillbox. When he reached the obstruction, he exerted down pressure on the blade and tore into the barricade, covering the defenders with logs and tons of earth. None of the enemy troops emerged alive. Both Tassone and Turnbull were awarded the Silver Star Medal for their bravery.

2005:U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to the air detachment of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven Four (NMCB-74), cleared the ground of foreign objects to set up their command operations center located in Muzafarrabad, Pakistan. The United States was participating in a multi-national assistance and support effort led by the Pakistani Government to bring aid to the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck the region on October 8, 2005. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

October 1989

An earthquake of 7.1 magnitude shook the San Francisco Bay Area on 17 Oct. Both civilian communities and Navy facilities in the area suffered heavy damage. Following the earthquake, Seabees from Construction Battalion Unit 416 at the Naval Air Station, Alameda; and Construction Battalion Unit 421 from Mare Island began providing immediate disaster relief. The following day Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3’s Air Detachment arrived on the scene, and convoys of men and equipment from Construction Battalion Unit 406 at the Naval Air Station, Lemoore; and Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 in San Diego, set out to bring relief to the bay area. Disaster relief was provided to both damaged naval and civilian facilities in the area. The latter effort included helping to outfit Federal Emergency Management Administration offices and bringing warehouses in San Francisco up to habitable standards for those left homeless by the earthquake.

Seabees cross train in the skills of their colleagues and prepare for deployment with Seabee Technical Assistant Teams (STAT), later called Seabee Teams. These teams consisted of men specially selected from Naval Mobile Construction Battalions to provide direct technical assistance to friendly nations throughout the world. The teams proved exceptionally efficient in rural development programs and earned reverence as the “Navy’s Peace Corps.” (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1964: The main body of NMCB 3 departed Port Hueneme, California, on the USNS Patrick for Guam.

1965: U.S. Naval Support Activity, Da Nang, was established in the RVN under Commander, Service Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Employing about 3,500 naval personnel, the organization was designed to provide logistic support for U.S. and allied units in Vietnam.

1966: CBU 201 departed Davisville, Rhode Island, for Antarctica in support of Antarctic Research Program.

1969:Seabee Team 7103 deployed to Vietnam for assignment to Officer in Charge, Construction Battalions Pacific for duty at Phu Vinh, RVN.

1971: 21st NCR moved into new headquarters building, located in Davisville, Rhode Island.

October 16

1967: A critical need developed in the fall of 1967 for an air and helicopter station in Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam (RVN). The station was needed to counteract a threatened monsoon offensive by North Vietnamese soldiers. The Naval Construction Force responded to the threat by forming a construction battalion comprised of Seabee detachments representing nine different Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCB) working in Southeast Asia. Work proceeded on the airstrip despite the hindrance of heavy rains and occasional mortar fire. The field was officially opened on Oct. 16.

October 19

2011: Chief Builder (SCW) Raymond J. Border of West Lafayette, Ohio killed by improvised explosive device in Afghanistan while assessing a road in Paktika Province while deployed with NMCB 74.

October 20

1945: The 30th Special NCB was inactivated at Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Davisville, Rhode Island. Men eligible for discharge were sent to discharge centers. The ineligibles were shipped to Port Hueneme, California for further assignment. 30th Special NCB inactivated at Davisville, Rhode Island.

October 13

1942: Chief Machinist Mate Henry L. Thompson, 6th NCB, was the first Seabee killed in action. He died during a Japanese naval bombardment of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. Thompson and five other Seabees were huddled in a deep dugout to avoid the huge 14-inch armor-piercing naval shells that the Japanese naval task force hurled into the Seabee camp area. One shell landed directly in the hole. The concussion collapsed the sides of the hole, burying the six men. Two Seabees, bravely disregarding their own safety, dug the six men out of the dirt-filled hole. Though the other five men survived, Thompson was found dead, sitting upright in the bottom of the dugout. It was believed that he died from the concussion as much as from suffocation. The two men who dug out the men, Shipfitter 1st Class H.L. Osborn and Shipfitter 1st Class D.L. Gillis, received the Silver Star for their actions.

1974: Reserve battalion Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 17 dedicated its permanent drill site at Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Port Hueneme, California. The drill site was dedicated in memory of Construction Mechanic 2nd Class James W. Lynch and Builder 2nd Class William A. Fulton. These men died of natural causes while members of NMCB 17.

CBMU 301 working at Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), 1968. On 6 October 1966, a 113-man advance party of NMCB 58 arrived at Red Beach, Da Nang, RVN. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

September 30

1942: Aviation, Construction, Ordnance, Repair, Navy (ACORN) 1 arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

October 1

1951:Commander Naval Construction Battalions, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (CBLANT) was established. This activity was placed under the command of the Commander of the Service Force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet so he could effectively fulfill his responsibility as construction battalion type commander.

1952:103rd NCB was disestablished on Guam, and NMCB 10 commissioned the same day on Guam.

1965:Two Atlantic Fleet Seabee Teams were assigned to Project Demo, a project in support of the Department of State at embassies behind the Iron Curtain.

1967:NMCB 9 relieved NMCB 4 and commenced its third consecutive deployment to the RVN near Da Nang.

1986: Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 became the first Seabee unit ever awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Service Award. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. The award recognized ACB 2’s unsurpassed operational tempo, including support of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon, and Operation “Urgent Fury” in Grenada, Teamwork 84 in Northern Europe, Ocean Venture 84 in the Caribbean, and Joint Logistics Over the Shore Test II. Over 100 members of Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 were also eligible for the award, since they were assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 on temporary duty during Joint Logistics Over the Shore Test II.

October 3

1942:The first decorated Seabee hero was Seaman 2nd Class Lawrence C. “Bucky” Meyer of the 6th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB). While working as a truck driver on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Meyer took cover in a Marine machine gun pit during an enemy strafing attack on the airstrip. Manning the machine gun, he fired at the lead Japanese Zero and shot it down. For his exploit, Meyer was awarded the Silver Star Medal. Unfortunately, the medal had to be awarded posthumously, because 13 days later Meyer was killed in action when Japanese dive bombers attacked and destroyed the gasoline barge on which he was working.

1945:48th NCB inactivated at Guam.

1964: NMCB 7 inaugurated the first fully computerized programming of a Seabee construction project when that battalion’s workload at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was planned and programmed by computer. This method of planning became a useful tool in preparing for subsequent construction projects.

October 5

October 6

1945: Seabees are ready to build anything, anytime, anywhere. Thus it came as no surprise to Seabees stationed on Attu in the Aleutian Islands in 1945 when they were ordered to Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to build a Fleet Weather Central to be operated by the U.S. Navy. Work on preliminary plans began immediately, and within seven days 20 Seabees were aboard ship with supplies and equipment bound for the southern end of Kamchatka Peninsula. The site chosen for the weather station was near the city of Petropavlovsk. It was in rolling, wooded country within view of the active volcano, Keryakchaya. The weather central itself consisted of six standard-size Quonset huts attached to a central wood structure. The arrangement permitted centralization of utilities and complete access to all facilities without the necessity of going outdoors. It included quarters for the nine Navy officers and the 24 enlisted men assigned to operate the station. The project was completed in 18 days, working 10.5 hours per day. The Seabees were assisted by the weather station personnel and Russian Army laborers. In addition to the housing, the Seabees cleared the site and leveled it, erected radio masts, and installed utility and weather equipment. On 6 October 1945, the project was completed and the Seabees returned to Attu.

Members of a Seabee Team in 1963 show off their rates. These teams could be tailored to fit any size task, but normally consisted of one junior Civil Engineer Corps officer, eleven construction men and a hospital corpsman. The crew and equipment utilized by these highly mobile, air transportable construction units provided disaster relief and technical assistance around the world. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

September 23

1943:116th NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, RI.

1965: The main body of NMCB 3, after being relieved by NMCB 5, returned to homeport via six Military Air Transport Service (MATS) aircraft.

1967: The main body of NMCB 133 departed RVN and returned to the Construction Battalion center (CBC), Gulfport, Mississippi.

September 24

1943:ACORN 13 arrived at Espiritu Santo. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1945:The 69th NCB was inactivated at Davisville, Rhode Island; the 14th Special NCB was inactivated at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

1967:The first flight of NMCB 128’s advance party arrived in Da Nang, RVN.

General Westmoreland at Quang Tri Air Facility for an inspection trip, 22 September 1967 in Quảng Trị, Vietnam. Two days after General Westmoreland ordered an alternate airfield built near the Demilitarized Zone because the Dong Ha air facilities were being subjected to an unceasing steady bombardment, Seabees moved into what then became known as Site X in Quang Tri. The airfield project included construction of a 3,500 ft. runway with 300-foot overruns at each end, a 20,000 square yard parking apron, and a 90,000 square yard helicopter facility together with living and support cantonments for 500 men. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

September 16

1854:The Mare Island Navy Yard, San Francisco, is formally established with Cmdr. David G. Farragut as its first commandant. This was the first West Coast navy yard.

September 17

1945:ACORN 29 decommissioned and absorbed into Naval Air Base (NAB), Yonabaru, Okinawa. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A CBMU also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

September 18

1942: Authority for the organization of a number of special-duty battalions was granted. This was the first departure from the standard battalion, and the new units were known as Special Naval Construction Battalions (NCB). These special battalions were composed of Seabee stevedores and longshoremen who were badly needed to break a bottleneck in the unloading of ships in the combat zones. Their officers, drawn largely from experienced personnel from the steamship and stevedoring companies, were commissioned in the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC). The Seabees were trained practically from scratch, and the efficiency of their training was demonstrated by the fact that cargo handling in the combat zones compared favorably with that done in the most efficient ports in the United States.

1942: The 26th NCB was commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

1968: Builder 2nd Class Gary Murphy of New Albany, Indiana was traveling as part of a 30-truck unit of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 121 Seabees in a U.S. Marine Corps convoy on National Highway One, south of Phu Loc, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), when the unit came under sudden and heavy enemy fire. Heavy mortar and automatic weapons fire were directed against the Seabee vehicles from concealed enemy positions. The truck upon which Murphy was riding was disabled in the initial onslaught. From an exposed position on the rear of the truck, he laid down a heavy covering fire allowing other Seabees to reach the safety of the ditch. After they had reached cover, he withdrew to a more secure position. From there he killed two enemy soldiers who were moving toward the disabled truck. As smoke from another burning vehicle partially obscured the enemy, Murphy, without regard for his personal safety, returned to the damaged truck, climbed onto an exposed position on top of it, and retrieved a machine gun and ammunition that had been jammed in place during the initial attack. Murphy passed the gun and ammunition down to other Seabees and returned to the ditch to man the gun. An enemy sapper exposed himself and threw a satchel charge but was promptly shot down by Murphy. He then continued to direct heavy fire against the enemy positions, holding them in place until armed helicopter gunships and a Marine Corps relief force arrived. For his actions during the attack, Petty Officer Murphy was awarded the Silver Star Medal on January 23, 1969 during a ceremony at Camp Wilkinson, Gia Le, RVN.

1968: The new Seabee camp built by NMCB 11 at Quang Tri, RVN was dedicated as Camp Rhodes, in honor of Lt. Joseph Rhodes, a CEC officer killed in action.

September 19

1944:The Army Distinguished Unit Citation was presented to the 40th NCB at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, California.

1967: A silver spike ceremony was held at the Liberty Bridge over Thu Bon River south of Da Nang, RVN. Lt. Gen. Hohang Xuam Lam, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), drove in the ceremonial spike. The 2,040-foot long bridge was built by NMCB 4.

September 20

1942: The earliest Seabee regiment, “Construction Regiment, Western Alaska,” was established for construction work at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. It was later renamed the First Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) on Dec. 19, 1942.

September 21

1950:During the Inchon offensive in Korea, a detachment of Seabee volunteers from Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 carried off an exploit typical of the many legends that have sprung up about the Seabees. Air observation reported eight locomotives trapped by broken rail lines in a switch yard at Yong Dong Po, eight miles above Inchon, Korea. A group of Seabees under a chief petty officer volunteered to go behind enemy lines and attempt to capture the engines. The Seabees sneaked down the line past enemy troops and seized the locomotives. However, when they reached the switch yard, they found a Kirin Brewery alongside the track. After thoughtful consideration, the Seabees decided to liberate not only the locomotives, but some of the beer stacked in the brewery. In quick time, the men had 15 cases of beer loaded aboard the locomotives. They then fired up the engine boilers and began the dangerous trek back to their lines. Along the way they had to repair broken track while under enemy fire. Even the United States Marines began shooting at the trains until they realized they were manned by Seabees. However, in true Seabee fashion, the men of ACB 1 brought back the liberated locomotives intact, as well as the liberated beer, no so intact.

September 22

1965: NMCB 3 was relieved by NMCB 5 in RVN.

1989:Hurricane “Hugo” struck the Charleston, South Carolina, area, killing 26 people and causing $5.9 billion of damage. Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 and 133, home-ported at the Naval Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport, Mississippi; and Construction Battalion Unit 412 at Charleston immediately moved to provide disaster relief to both the military and civilian communities.

A home is heavily damaged near the coast of South Carolina following Hurricane Hugo coming ashore near Charleston, South Carolina, September 22, 1989. Hurricane Hugo resulted in the deaths of 27 South Carolinians and is considered one of the costliest weather events to impact the state. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. (Photo by Lt. Col. Cindi King)

The Foundation of Diego Garcia

By 1983 the only Seabee unit remaining on Diego Garcia was a detachment of NMCB 62. The departure of this detachment in September 1983 ended twelve years of priority effort on the island that included some 220 projects for the Navy and Air Force, valued in excess of $200 million. The work the Seabees completed on Diego Garcia since 1971 represented the largest peacetime construction effort in their history. Diego Garcia was the major Seabee construction effort of the 1970s and they acquitted themselves well under the difficult and isolated conditions that exist there. When the Seabees arrived they lived in tent camps, when they departed they left a fully-developed, modern military facility, capable of supporting thousands of U.S. personnel.

From Rota to Zaragota the OICC Madrid was charged with building 20 major air and naval facilities with Rota being the crown jewel. Across the bay from Cadiz, Rota was the main terminal for the 485 mile underground fuel transportation system which supplied Air Force and Navy bases with aviation and motor fuel products. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

September 9

1943:Before dawn, initial Allied landings took place at Salerno, Italy. For these landings, the 12-mile beach was divided into two parts. The north section was invaded by the 46th British Division that landed from tank landing ships with the aid of the 1006th Seabee Causeway Detachment (CBD 1006). The south section was invaded by the American forces that also landed on causeways laid down by Seabee pontoon crews. The Germans, however, were prepared for battle at Salerno. The landing ships carrying the Seabees and their pontoons took a frightful beating. Many pontoon strings were sent ashore and blown up on the mined beaches. Allied ships guarding the beaches were bombed by German guided missiles, dive bombers and torpedoes, and shelled by German submarines and patrol craft. During the first 10 days of battle, the Seabees bivouacked on the Salerno beaches while they unloaded ships, built unloading-slips and roadways, and cleared traffic – doing it all while under constant fire. CBD 1006 suffered 28% casualties. Lt. Carl M. Olson, CEC, officer in charge (OIC), CBD 1006, and seven of his men were killed in action during this conflict. The Allies won the battle at Salerno, and Seabee operations were invaluable in the great victory.

1967:The first flight of NMCB 9 advance party arrived at Camp Hoover.

September 10

1965:NMCB 10 renames Camp Banister at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam (RVN) as Camp Shields, in honor of Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin G. Shields, fallen hero of the Battle of Dong Xoai. Shields is the first – and so far only – Seabee to receive the Medal of Honor.

1968:Seabee Team 4002 arrived in Davisville, Rhode Island, from RVN for reassignment to NMCB 40.

1966:NMCB 3 received message notification from Commander, Naval Construction Battalions, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMCBPAC) of its selection as fiscal year 1966’s “Best of Type,” Pacific Fleet.

September 12

1944:UDTs, led by Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers and mostly comprised of Seabees, began clearing the approaches to Peleliu for an amphibious assault. Three days later, Marines of the First Division came ashore accompanied by Seabees of NCBs 33 and 73, and Construction Battalion Division (CBD) 1054. Initially, CBD 1054 Seabees operated pontoon barges and causeways to assist in the landing of supplies and vehicles, while the Seabees of the 33rd and 73rd worked on the beach unloading cargo. On September 19, however, when the airfield was captured, they began clearing debris from the airstrips. The following day, their construction equipment was brought ashore and the Seabees began making rapid repairs. Only 72 hours later, three squadrons of fighter aircraft were able to land and begin operations. On September 23, the Seabees began constructing a bomber base which, despite land mines and mortar fire, was made operational in seven days.

1945:The 80th NCB was inactivated at Subic Bay, Philippines.

1966: A facility containing two NMCB camps and the 30th NCR headquarters at Red Beach, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), was named Camp Haskins in memory of Builder (Light Construction) 2nd Class Donald Dean Haskins, NMCB 9, who was killed in action on October 28, 1965, when Camp Adenir, Da Nang, RVN, came under Viet Cong attack.

1968:An NMCB 1 jeep carrying the Delta Company commander and company chief, Lt. j.g. Arthur D. Moscrip Jr., and Builder Constructionman W.W. McGinn, hit a mine en route to a job site at 2/1 Marines south of Da Nang, RVN. McGinn was killed instantly, while Moscrip died the following morning.

September 13

Joan Shields, widow of CM3 Marvin Shields, with their daughter Barbara Diane, receiving her husband’s Medal of Honor from President Lyndon Johnson, September 13, 1966. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1966: Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin G. Shields was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his acts of heroism at the 1965 Battle of Dong Xoai, RVN. The medal was presented to his wife, Joan, and daughter, Barbara, by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. This Medal of Honor was the first and only one ever awarded to a Seabee.

September 14

September 15

1943: The 4th NCR was inactivated. Section I of 106th NCB was decommissioned at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, California.

1944: A naval task force landed the First Marine Division accompanied by Seabees of NCBs 33 and 74, and CBD 1054 on Peleliu, Palau Islands, in the Western Carolines. The island had been subject to air and shore bombardment prior to the landings, while minesweepers and personnel of the UDTs cleared channels and beaches. The UDTs, led by CEC officers, were mostly Seabees. Peleliu marked the first time the Japanese used new tactics to oppose amphibious assaults. The tactics included light resistance on the beaches with heavy counterattacks and a main line of defense inland. Fighting on Peleliu was heavy, because the Japanese had well-prepared positions in caves and tunnels. The island was not secured until November 25.

1945:The 27th NCR was inactivated; the 41st and 59th NCBs were inactivated on Guam.

1950:Seabees of NCB 104, later re-designated as Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1, participated in amphibious landings with the Marines at Inchon, Korea. Building pontoon causeways and unloading eight tank landing ships carrying supplies into Inchon posed major challenges for the Seabees. Inchon harbor had a fantastic tide, over 30 feet in most places. The tide receded to the main channel and left a vast mud flat in front of the city. Small craft, tank landing ships, patrol craft and other supply vessels were left high and dry on the mud when the tide withdrew. In their usual “Can Do” spirit, the Seabees had a pontoon causeway built on the second day that allowed Gen. Douglas MacArthur to walk ashore dry-shod, from USS Mount McKinley.

5 September 2005 – A U.S. Navy equipment operator assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven (NMCB-7), cleared debris at Jones Park in Gulfport, Mississippi. The Seabees were supporting the U.S. Coast Guard, Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Sheriff’s Department to get the city of Gulfport and its waterways back on their feet after Hurricane Katrina. The Navy’s involvement in the Hurricane Katrina humanitarian assistance operations was led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with the Department of Defense. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1969:Typhoon Doris severely damaged the Quang Tri Camp of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 and various other camps and civilian communities in the Republic of Vietnam. A quirk of fate some might say, because half of the battalion’s main body was still at home port in Gulfport, Mississippi when the Gulf coast was hit by Hurricane Camille on August 19, 1969. After Camille, this half joined the other half already in Vietnam just in time to encounter Typhoon Doris. Thus, nearly half of the Seabees of the battalion suffered through two severe tropical storms within two weeks, each storm on a different side of the world.

September 3

1967: At Dong Ha, RVN, five miles south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), a combined Viet Cong–North Vietnamese Army rocket attack detonated 20,000 tons of ammunition and 40,000 gallons of aviation fuel near NMCB 11’s camp. The explosions rocked the base for eight hours, and this represented the largest ammunition disaster in recorded history. Miraculously, no Americans or South Vietnamese were killed.

1 September 1942: The Seabees arrive on Guadalcanal The principal objective of the first phase of the struggle, the contest for Guadalcanal, was to deny to the enemy and to possess for ourselves the airfield that the Japanese had been constructing on the island since early May, the field soon to become known throughout the world as Henderson Field It was close to completion when our invasion forces struck, and making it operational, and keeping it that way during months of fierce combat, was the principal task assigned to the 6th Construction Battalion, the naval construction force assigned to our first real offensive move in the South Pacific. The 6th Battalion followed the Marines into Guadalcanal on September 1 and thereby became the first Seabees to engage in the combination of fighting and building for which they had been organized and trained. (Courtesy of Seabee Museum)

Operation “Desert Shield/Desert Storm”

On 2 August 1990 the armed forces of Iraq began the invasion and subsequent conquest of the Emirate of Kuwait. Under United Nations’ auspices, the United States and other member nations responded by deploying military forces to Saudi Arabia. The immediate goal was to forestall further Iraqi aggression; the long-range goal was to compel Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The initial allied military undertaking to protect Saudi Arabia was dubbed Operation “Desert Shield.”

Among the U.S. forces deployed to the region was the First Marine Expeditionary Force. Seabees were to provide construction support for this force. On 7 August the Seabees began preparations to deploy four battalions to the region: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4, 5, 7, and 40. On 13 August the first Seabees arrived in Saudi Arabia, an element of Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, comprising 210 personnel. These men immediately went to work unloading Marine Corps equipment and supplies from Maritime Prepositioned Force ships.

During the period 10-20 August, 100 Seabees of Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 departed Norfolk, Virginia, on amphibious ships bound for the Persian Gulf. While in the gulf these Seabees participated in numerous exercises with the Marines to prepare for an amphibious assault in the region.

The second wave of Seabees to arrive were personnel from Construction Battalion Units 411 and 415; they erected and maintained Fleet Hospital Five, a 500-bed hospital facility at Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Both units had female Officers in Charge, marking a first for the Seabees.

1968:Seabee William Darrah, State Department’s Naval Support Unit, was highly commended for heroic efforts in extinguishing what could have been a major fire at the U.S. Embassy in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Due to a curfew, the local fire department was unavailable. In response, the members of the embassy staff, U.S. news correspondents and private American citizens formed a bucket brigade, and managed to control and extinguish the fire. The U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia said, “By general agreement, the person who merits the highest praise is Seabee William B. Darrah, who knew his job thoroughly and showed great personal courage.”

1967: At 6:08 a.m., the Dong Ha Combat Base in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) was subjected to an enemy rocket attack. Three of the rockets landed in the Seabee cantonment, Camp Barnes. One of the rockets made a direct hit on a C Company berthing hut. As a result of this direct hit, four men were killed: Builder (Concrete) 2nd Classs Jerry L. Newman, Builder (Concrete) Constructionman Jerome D. Patterson, Builder (Concrete) Constructionman Anthony K. Grasso, and Builder (Heavy) Construction Apprentice Richard J. Wager. Between August 28 and September 25, 1967, the Seabee camp at the Dong Ha Combat Base came under enemy artillery and rocket attack 47 times on 13 different days. All attacks came between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m, with the majority of them coming during daylight hours. As a result of these daytime attacks, construction work was greatly hampered, and sometimes came to a standstill while the Seabees sought cover.

2003: Local School girls displayed their new chalk boards donated by friends and family of U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Four (NMCB-4). Navy Seabee units were participating in extensive reconstruction of schools, hospitals, and bridges throughout Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Sept. 7, 2005: U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven (NMCB-7), removed debris at the Jones Park in Gulfport, Mississippi, in support of Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts. The Navy’s involvement in the Hurricane Katrina humanitarian assistance operations was led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with the Department of Defense. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

August 30

1945:On V-J Day, August 14, 1945, 13 construction battalions and three special battalions were awaiting assignment to Japan, where they were to aid United States naval forces at Hiroshima, Kabayana, Yokosuka, Omura, Nagasaki, Sasebo, and Kure. That day, 16 officers and 541 men of Naval Construction Battalion 136 embarked on 12 medium landing ships at Guam; reported at Iwo Jima on August 21; and arrived at Yokosuka naval base on August 30. As the first Seabees to land in Japan, they established their camp at the site of the navigation school within the Japanese naval base. After construction a galley and a mess hall, the Seabees were assigned numerous other tasks. They repaired housing, electric and telephone systems and roads at the naval base, graded fields and remodeled buildings for the fleet recreation area, and repaired housing and surfaced an airstrip at Kisarazu airfield. In addition to the 136th NCB, CBMU 602 also arrived in Japan on August 30, 1945. The maintenance unit arrived at Yokosuka from Guam. Its task was to maintain runways and roads at the Marine Corps air base. Furthermore, the Seabees constructed a 2,000-man galley, restored barracks and facilities for personnel, constructed a chapel and recreation facilities, completed a sawmill, public works shops, a cold-storage plant, and a chlorination plant for water treatment, and installed hot-water showers in all barracks.

1954:In Korea, Seabees of CBMU 101 were assigned the task of replacing a 22-foot bridge. The bridge was an old Korean structure of rapidly deteriorating logs and hand-driven piles. It created a hazardous condition for heavily loaded military vehicles. The problem faced by the Seabees was to remove the old bridge in the shortest possible time and replace it with a structure capable of carrying loads up to 30 tons. The Seabees, using heavy I-beams and timbers, laid out and completely prefabricated the new bridge. All material was precut and predrilled. The structure was assembled and each individual piece was marked. The Seabees then disassembled the bridge and loaded the parts in order on a low-bed trailer. At seven in the morning of August 30, 1954, all equipment was moved out in sequence to the old bridge. Rain fell in a downpour throughout the day. However, by four o’clock that afternoon, the old bridge was removed, the approaches broken away, the I-beams laid in, concrete abutment tops poured, cross beams bolted on, decking spiked down, and approaches filled and graded. The road was reopened to traffic that evening.

August 31

1842: The Bureau of Yards and Docks was established, one of five bureaus set up in the reorganization of the U.S. Navy. Captain Lewis Warrington, senior member of the expiring Board of Naval Commissioners, was appointed the first Chief of the Bureau. William P.S. Sanger, appointed civil engineer for the Board in 1836, was transferred to become the first civil engineer on the Bureau staff. The new Bureau received responsibility for the Navy yards, then seven in number.

2014: U.S. Navy Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Two Five (NMCB 25), Task Force Ultimus, directed a Skytrac Military 11,000-pound Telehandler Telescopic Forklift as part of a U.S. Central Command mission in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Seabees, together with 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, Task Force Volunteer executed and coordinated efforts to utilize concrete jersey barriers to increase the stand-off distance between vehicles and personnel to assist Afghan National Security Forces. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

September 1

1942: Officers and men of the 6th NCB landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. These were the first Seabees to land on any enemy held island in World War II and the first to engage the enemy in combat. The 6th Seabees tackled their most important job: repairing the airstrip then named Henderson Field. It was a never-ending job, for as fast as the builders leveled the strip and put down Marston matting, the Japanese would send bombers overhead to drop high explosive bombs on the strip. As the fighting around the island increased, the Seabees developed a system of repairing the damaged airstrip in minutes. Less than 40 minutes after Japanese bombers swooped down and strafed the field, the Seabees, waiting with previously-loaded trucks, would dart out on the strip and completely fill in the bomb holes. Many times the Seabees worked furiously to repair the field while crippled U.S. Marine interceptors circled overhead waiting to land. Several times while ducking bullets, the Seabees worked on one end of the field making repairs as the Japanese infantry fought with U.S. Marine defenders at the other end. On several occasions the Seabees fought beside the U.S. Marines in hand-to-hand combat against the Japanese troops.

1943:The 1st Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) was inactivated.

1944:Port Directors School established at Davisville, Rhode Island; it was discontinued on Dec. 31, 1944.

Forty-eight years ago, in August of 1970, the articles of incorporation were signed to create the Seabee Memorial Association. From the Articles of Incorporation, the purposes of the corporation included:

“The construction of appropriate memorials to commemorate the work of the Seabees throughout the world and to perpetuate the memory of the Seabees who, by their labors and valor. Have contributed so greatly to the Naval Construction force as an essential element of sea power in the defense of our nation.”

The signatories of the original document were Commander Charles Diehl, Robert Burch and Commander Philip Birnbaum. Rear Admiral George Reider, CEC, USN served as the first president and lead a group of dedicated volunteers to raise funds to build the memorial.

Sculptor Felix de Weldon was chosen to design the memorial. de Weldon served with the Seabees in WWII and also designed the United States Marine Corps Memorial. Final construction was completed just over four years after the organization was founded. On May 27th, 1974 the Memorial was dedicated and officially opened to the public. RADM Ben Moreell, the founder of the Seabees was one of the featured speakers at the dedication. May 27, 2019 will mark the 45th anniversary of the dedication of the memorial.

The words on the back of the memorial expand on the “Can Do” attitude of the Seabees.

“With Willing Hearts and Skillful Hands the Difficult We do at Once, the Impossible Takes a Bit Longer.”

The first scholarships were awarded by the Seabee Memorial Association in 1972 when six awards were made totaling $4200. Since that time over $5 million has been granted to over 800 students. The Seabee Memorial Association became the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association (SMSA) on August 31st, 1978, so 2018 is the 40th Anniversary of the change to the SMSA!

Aug. 20, 1942, 6th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) Commander, Cmdr. Joseph P. Blundon, Civil Engineer Corp, reported to Gen. A.A. Vandegrift, U.S. Marine Corps, at Lunga Point in the northern coast of Guadalcanal. The mission of the Seabees at Guadalcanal was to make repairs and complete construction of Henderson Field, a vital air station that was controlled by Japanese air forces in the Pacific campaign of World War II prior to the U.S Marine invasion that had overtaken it. “I guess I was the first Seabee to go under fire,” Blundon recalled in William Huie’s “Can Do! The Story of the Seabees.” “The Marines had been on Guadcanal 13 days…while I was reporting to Gen. Vandegrift, the [Japanese] bombers came over and I hit my first foxhole. I just lay there…while the bombs fell around us.” (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

August 19

2005: Construction personnel from Philippine Navy, and U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Five (NMCB-5), put the finishing touches on a two-room schoolhouse they built jointly at the Doce Martires Elementary School, San Narciso, Philippines as part of the Philippines phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2005. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

August 20

1942:20th NCB commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

1965:NMCB 8 was transferred from CBC Davisville, Rhode Island, to Port Hueneme, California. The change in home port was part of the augmentation and reorganization of Seabee units for operations in RVN.

1965:Capt. William M. Heaman, CEC, was promoted to Rear Admiral.

August 21

1943:The 100,000th recruit was sent through the Seabee induction mill at Camp Peary, Virginia, less than eight months after the first recruit was processed at Peary on Dec. 6, 1942. Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Emil Mascotti, Bessemer, Michigan, had the figure 100,000 written in mercurochrome across his chest at medical inspection.

2008: A CH46 helicopter transported Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 to a bombing range off the coast of Okinawa. NMCB-133 was generating a plan to make the site more useable for Navy, Air Force, and Marine personnel after a survey team performed a site visit. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

August 22

1954:The French Colonial Forces were defeated at Dien Bien Phu in French Indo-China, May 7, 1954. In accordance with the Geneva Convention of July 21, 1954, Indo-China became a number of sovereign states: Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In addition, Vietnam was divided into two, thus creating North and South Vietnam, roughly at the 17th parallel. The truce agreement declared that the people of the two Vietnams should be permitted to reside in the country of their choice, and the United States was asked to provide transportation for the anticipated mass migration from Communist North Vietnam to free South Vietnam. The U.S. Navy was given the task of providing transportation for the migrants, and Seabees of Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 were charged with installing and operating pontoon bridges where necessary and building campsites for the refugees. However, when the amphibious Seabees arrived in Haiphong on August 22, 1954, they learned that the truce agreement signed in July prohibited the landing of foreign military units in Vietnam. Thus, the Seabees were prevented from operating until all military insignia was removed from uniforms and equipment; some even donned nondescript clothing. Then they returned to their tasks. The Seabees not only assisted in moving several hundred thousand Vietnamese and their possessions, but also built camps that contributed to the refugees’ comfort. While assisting the Vietnamese in their mass migration, the Seabees helped French troops evacuate the country and built a recreation center in the south for U.S. 7th Fleet personnel engaged in the operation. ACB 1 Seabees who participated in Operation “Passage to Freedom” were commended by the Task Force Commander.

August 23

1943:87th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) becomes part of ACORN 12. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasure Island and Majuro.

August 24

2010:In a posthumous frocking ceremony, Steelworker 2nd Class (DV) Robert D. Stethem was promoted to the honorary rank of master chief petty officer aboard the USS Stethem (DDG 63) in Yokosuka, Japan. (Stethem was a victim of the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in June 1985, after being singled out from passengers as a U.S. Navy Sailor and killed by members of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, when their demands to release 766 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were not met. He was returning home with fellow members of UCT 1 after completing a routine assignment in Greece. Stethem was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.

August 25

2009:Groundbreaking ceremonies are held at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, California, for construction of the new U.S. Navy Seabee Museum to replace the older facility which opened in 1956.

2009: A Seabee, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 40, said farewell to his counterpart from the Indonesian Marine Corps after the dedication of an engineering civic action program at Pusaka Rakyat primary school as part of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Indonesia 2009. The Seabees and Indonesian Marines worked closely together for nearly a month on the project. CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises held annually in Southeast Asia to strengthen relationships and enhance the operational readiness of the participating forces. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

August 15

1944: Invasion forces landed on Guam in the Marianas Islands, July 21. The initial objective was to take possession of Apra Harbor, together with the surrounding development area and airfield on Orote Peninsula. Landing forces struck north and south of the harbor. Seabees participated in the assaults: the 25th and 2nd Special NCBs on the beaches north of the harbor, and the 53rd and 13th Special NCBs, and CBMU 515 on the southern beaches. For three weeks, combat and construction continued until finally, on Aug. 10, Japanese resistance ended. Since considerable development had been planned for Guam, the 5th Naval Construction Brigade was established. The brigade assumed control of the construction and development of base facilities for both the Army and Navy. Guam became a great Army air base, as well as the principal naval base in the Western Pacific.

2009: Seabees assigned to the 30th Naval Construction Regiment conducted marksmanship training in Kuwait before deploying to Afghanistan. The regiment was headed to Southern Afghanistan where it commanded the work of more than 3,000 Navy, Army and Air Force military engineers. The regiment, homeported in Port Hueneme, Calif., was deployed to Afghanistan and Kuwait supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

2009:NMCB 24 finished expansion and upgrade of entry control point on Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, with completion marked by ribbon-cutting ceremony. During construction, Alfa Company graded over 341,000 square feet of roadways and parking areas, excavated and hauled almost 2,400 cubic yards of fill dirt, and placed more than 400 barriers stretching approximately 6,000 feet.

August 17

1969:Hurricane Camille wreaked havoc on the residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In her trajectory across the Gulf Coast, she destroyed or damaged 30,000 homes and hundreds of business, civic and religious structures, severed communications, and knocked out water, power and sewer service. At Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport, 29 buildings were destroyed and more than 90 percent of the structures were damaged. However, after the eye of the hurricane passed over the Gulf Coast, Seabees implemented a massive mobilization effort to assist the surrounding community in recovery operations. Seabees cleared roads, located bodies, rescued survivors, restored water, gas and electrical power, put out fires, set up mobile dispensaries, and unloaded food, supplies and medicine. On October 31, the Center’s military population was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for exceptionally meritorious service before, during and after the devastating hurricane. In addition, there were numerous individual awards to military and civilian personnel at the Center.

August 6

1945: A U.S. Army Air Force B-29 bomber, called the Enola Gay, took off from North Field on the island of Tinian Island and later in the day dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Honshu, Japan. This was the first time that the weapon, until then held secret, was used for a military purpose. The bomb destroyed over four square miles of the city and brought death or injury to over 160,000 people. Seabees of the 6th Naval Construction Brigade participated in many phases of the operation. When the USS Indianapolis arrived at Tinian from the Naval Weapons Center, Port Chicago, California, Seabees helped with the unloading of the components of the atomic bomb. The Seabees then stored the elements in a shed built by themselves, and they then organized a detachment to guard the shed and its mysterious contents. Scientists assembled the atomic bombs in the shed with several Seabees assisting as handymen. Later, when she started on her mission to Japan, the Enola Gay with her atomic bomb took off from Tinian’s North field which the Seabees had built.

2002: Capt. Gary Engle was selected as the first chief of staff of the newly established 1NCD, which was commissioned to lead the Naval Construction Force (NCF) globally.

August 10

1943: ACORN 11 arrived at Noumea. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

August 11

1953: A devastating earthquake on the Greek Island of Cephalonia led to a display of Seabee-Marine teamwork. The commander of the 6th U.S. Fleet ordered 11 Marines and two Seabees from ACB 2 to form a landing party to assist the Greeks in emergency relief operations. The two Seabees were George F. Dyer and Robert J. Gillie. With equipment brought ashore from their ships, the Seabees and Marines first cleared a road from the beach to the village so that Jeeps could bring out the injured. A heavy landslide which blocked the road completely had to be blasted before the Seabees’ bulldozers could start clearing a passage.

1967: Seabee Team 0407 moved from Saigon to Can Tho, RVN.

1968: Seabee Team 0310 with 12 men arrived at Long Kuyen, RVN, while Seabee Team 0311 with 12 men arrived at Can Tho, RVN.

Constructionman Camella J. Jones learns how to operate a large crane from a Chief Petty Officer. She was the first woman of the Navy to qualify as a Heavy Equipment Operator and to be assigned to a U.S. Navy Construction Battalion, November 1972. (Photograph by PH3 Paul Mansfield, USN)

August 1

1945: ACORN 13 was decommissioned and incorporated into Naval Air Base Samar, Philippines. ACORN 30 was decommissioned and Naval Air Base, Jinamoc Tacloban, Leyte was established. ACORN 45 was decommissioned and Naval Air Base Sangley Point, Cavite, Philippines. established. ACORN 47 was decommissioned and Naval Air Base Puerto Princesa, Philippines established. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

1957: The 10th NCB was redesignated as Naval Construction Forces Pacific. This was later to become Naval Construction Battalions, Pacific.

2002:Capt. Gary Engle was selected as the first Chief of Staff of the newly established First Naval Construction Division (1NCD), which was commissioned to lead the Naval Construction Force (NCF) globally.

August 2

1942:16th NCB commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

1965: On this day the Chief of Naval Material transferred the material support responsibility for the Navy’s floating drydocks to the Bureau of Ships from the Bureau of Yards and Docks. The transfer was made in order to provide more effective support to the Navy’s Operating Forces. Material support included research, development, test, procurement, production, supply, and maintenance and modification, as well as the planning, budgeting, and provision of feasibility advice for the floating drydocks.

July 22

1968: Master Chief William Shannon became the first Seabee senior enlisted advisor to the commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and chief of Navy Civil Engineers. As advisor to the commander, Shannon acted as a point of contact at the command headquarters for all Group VIII personnel in the field.

July 23

July 24

1940: Rear Adm. Ben Moreell approves plans for Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island. This will later become the first home for the Naval Construction Force in 1941.

Admiral Ben Moreell was the chief of the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps. Best known to the Seabee’s as Father of the Navy’s Seabees or the King Bee.

1944: Tinian was invaded by United States Marines, accompanied by the 18th and 121st Naval Construction Battalions (NCB). The Seabees brought their bulldozers and pontoon causeways ashore on D-Day. Because Tinian’s narrow beaches were covered with low coral cliffs, Seabees devised and operated special movable raps called Doodlebugs. These Doodlebugs made the landings possible.

July 27

1942: 15th NCB was commissioned at Camp Bradford, Norfolk, Virginia.

1967:NMCB 11 was holding a change of command ceremony at the Dong Ha Forward Combat Base in Vietnam, which had been dedicated to the memory of Senior Chief Equipment Operator Donald J. Barnes, who had been killed in action at Khe Sanh. During the ceremony, attended by many senior naval officers and distinguished guests, a reception for the new commanding officer usually followed a change of command ceremony, but in this case, the custom had to be set aside. Barely half an hour after the ceremony began, enemy forces dropped about five mortar rounds onto the base. After the first round exploded, members of the battalion and visitors ran for the nearest hole. This is significant because it undoubtedly was the first time that a Seabee brigade commander, Captain Albert Marschall, CEC, and six of his battalion commanders shared the same mortar hole during an enemy artillery attack. Thankfully, there were no casualties.

2002: Members of Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 1 rushed to Somerset, Pennsylvania to assist in the rescue of nine coal miners trapped 240 feet underground. The Seabee divers provided transportable recompression chambers and emergency evacuation hyperbaric stretcher to safeguard the miners once recovered. Click here for the full story.

July 28

1943: ACORN 10 arrives at Noumea, New Caledonia. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

On 15 July 1958, Amphibious Construction Battalion TWO (PHIBTWO) assist Marines with landing at Beirut, Lebanon. The U.S. government was asked by the Lebanese government for military aid, and to assist in the establishment and maintenance of order in the wake of dissidents attempt to overthrow the government. In July 1958, the U.S. government sent amphibious units of the 6th Fleet to assist over 1800 Marines disembark in Beirut, Lebanon. Seabees with PHIBTWO supplied causeway teams to provide pontoons for troops, vehicles and supplies to pass to and from LCUs. They also provided beach salvage teams which assisted with foundering landing craft, clearing vehicles stalled in the sand, and also improving overall beach traffic handling. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

July 15

1942:The 7th NCB left Advance Base Depot, Port Hueneme, California, for San Francisco, California. This was the first battalion to stage through Port Hueneme.

1944:Construction Battalion Military Unit (CBMU) 613 was established in the Azores from the men of the 96th NCB. Also, the 33rd Special NCB was commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.

July 16

1943: 104th NCB activated at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia

1968: The dedication ceremony for Camp Haines was held with Rear Adm. J.V. Bartlett, commander, 3rd NCB, as guest speaker. The camp was dedicated in honor of Chief Equipment Operator John C. Haines who was killed during NMCB 4’s 1967 deployment to Da Nang, RVN.

July 20

1943: Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Richard Maurer, Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) 63, was cited for the Navy Silver Star following an attack near Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia, in the Solomon Islands by the 1st Marine Raider Regiment. A resident of Seattle, Washington before becoming a member of the 63rd Battalion, Maurer had made many friendships among the Marine Raiders when they were encamped close to the Seabees on Guadalcanal. When the Raiders embarked for their historic attack, Maurer slipped aboard without permission of his superior officers. The gravity of his offense, for which he was ultimately brought to trial, was extenuated, however, by his gallant actions during the attack. From Marine Corps sources, it was learned that Maurer, after attaching himself to a machine gun crew, had serviced and manned the gun with devastating effect upon the enemy when all other crew members had been killed or disabled by mortar fire. He continued by his gun until reinforcements arrived. The Marine officer in charge praised Maurer’s performance and instituted citation proceedings.

Port Hueneme, California, April 1944. Two years earlier on July 15, the 7th Naval Construction Battalion left Advance Base Depot, Port Hueneme, for San Francisco, the first battalion to stage through this location. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

July 9

1943:Seabees with Construction Battalion Detachment 1006 crossing the Mediterranean onboard LST 388 taking part in the Sicilian Invasion. Causeways that aided the troops ashore can be seen as they are strapped alongside the LST. Pontoons and causeways, a new invention at the time which had yet to be tested in wartime efforts, were about to make their debut in the Atlantic Theater. This was the first use of causeways in war and showed there versatility and indispensability in amphibious landings. CBD 1006 also took part in the Normandy Invasion in June 1944. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1967: At a dedication ceremony, the NMCB 9 campsite was named in honor of Utilitiesman Plumber 2nd Class James Miller, who was mortally wounded on February 6, 1967.

July 10

1943:The Seabees introduced their secret weapon on the beaches of Sicily: the famed magic boxes, steel pontoon sections which revolutionized the strategy of amphibious warfare. The German and Italian defenders were dug in along the northern coastline of Sicily where the best beaches were located. There was only one thing wrong with the German strategy. They had not heard of the new development for joining pontoons to form invasion causeways. Capt. John N. Laycock, CEC, developed a method to join pontoons together by angle iron and bolting pads so that a string of these connected pontoons became a solid structure of cantilevered integrity. On July 10, 1943 the Allied armada appeared off the southern coast between Scoglitti and Licata, and sent infantry ashore across long strings of steel pontoons. Other pontoon structures constructed by the Seabees included the rhino ferry and the landing tug. Each was made by simply putting together a couple dozen pontoons and an outboard motor.

1958:When dissident elements in Lebanon threatened to overthrow the government of that country, the U.S. 6th Fleet cruising in the Mediterranean was sent to Beirut to establish and maintain order, at the request of the Lebanese government. Seabees of Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 attached to the fleet participated in the action with their pontoon causeways when U.S. Marines landed, and again when the Marines re-embarked several months later. The men of ACB 2 not only participated in the landings, but the battalion’s Beach Salvage Teams also reclaimed broached boats and swamped vehicles, and improved beaches and roads. In addition, the Seabees in Lebanon built a road from the beaches to the Beirut airport.

July 11

1944:ACORN 10 was decommissioned. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

1945: The 73rd NCB was inactivated on Peleliu.

July 12

1966: NMCB 4 advance party departed Chu Lai for the continental U.S. (CONUS).

1972:Camp Hill, an advanced base training camp, was dedicated in honor of the late Capt. James M. Hill Jr., CEC. The camp is situated on a 575-acre plot of land under lease to the Navy in the DeSoto National Forest, 15 miles north of the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport, Mississippi. Hill was a former commanding officer of the Center.

July 12-20, 1968:NMCB 3 main body arrived at Camp Faulkner, RVN, by government aircraft.

Seabees with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 pour and spread cement for a new gazebo being built near the Broad Avenue entrance to Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport, Mississippi, June 26, 2018. The gazebo, which is scheduled for completion later in 2018, is a replacement of an older, smaller gazebo that was deemed unstable and scheduled for demolition last year. (Photo by Ryan Labadens)

Seabees with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 pour and spread cement for a new gazebo being built near the Broad Avenue entrance to Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport, Mississippi, June 26, 2018. The gazebo, which is scheduled for completion later in 2018, is a replacement of an older, smaller gazebo that was deemed unstable and scheduled for demolition last year. (Photo by Ryan Labadens)

Builder 3rd Class Andrew Tribble, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, Detachment Guam, lifts a piece of decking to be installed on the top tier of a scaffolding tower, June 29. (Photo by Lt. j.g. William Mitchell)

This World War II-era advertisement showcased the Seabees’ rhino ferry. It was a huge barge constructed from pontoons with two propelling units. In the first 10 days of the invasion of Normandy, 85 percent of all vehicular equipment was transported to shore using the rhino ferry. It was critical to defeating the Germans and proved to be a “bridge to victory,” as the ad says. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

July 1

1942: The 11th NCB was established at Camp Bradford, Little Creek, Virginia.

1967:Senior Chief Petty Officer Joseph R. Herrara of NMCB 11 was driving a truck near the Danang Air Base in the RVN. Before the day was out, he was involved in one of those thriller episodes. At 0640, a lone Viet Cong trooper shot a poisonous dart at the Chief. The dart shattered the wing glass of the truck and deeply gashed his arm. As soon as he realized he was under attack, he turned off the ignition and bailed out. Then as he ran toward the back of the truck, a rifle bullet hit his belt loop. To protect himself from the enemy hidden in a grove of trees, Chief Herrara withdrew his pistol and ran across the road to a ditch. When he saw the enemy trooper, he fired four rounds and then chased him. As the Chief approached a sand mound, the enemy soldier hurled a hand grenade and the Chief, seeing an object flying through the air, dropped to the ground. The grenade landed about 30 feet from him. However, after a short wait, the grenade failed to explode. Chief Herrara rose and slowly approached the grenade. As he examined it, he noticed that the pin was still partially inserted and thus, it was prevented from detonating. Rather than press his luck further, he returned to his truck and signaled nearby Marines for help.

1968: Seabee Team 5801 arrived in Davisville, Rhode Island from RVN for reassignment to NMCB 58.

1969: Seabee Team 0411 moved from NCBC, Port Hueneme, California to Thailand where they began their deployment.

1972: The brig at NCBC, Port Hueneme, California closed its doors after 26 years of almost uninterrupted operation dating back to the end of World War II. During the war years, there were 11 brigs in the area. Not so many when you consider that the military population was over 27,000 at the time. With the reduction of operations and personnel at the war’s end, correctional facilities were reduced to one building. Operation of the brig was continuous from 1946, except for a brief 10-month hiatus from October 1949 until August 1950 when the brig was temporarily closed for economic reasons. The brig or correctional center, as it was officially called from 1969 until it closed, was closed because of the low prisoner population.

July 2

LIFE magazine July 2, 1965. Chief Johnny McCully, AIC of Seabee TEam 1104, is being assisted to a waiting helicopter. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1943:Lt. j.g. George Stephenson, CEC, and Lt. Irwin Lee, CEC, of the 24th NCB, were killed on Rendova in the Solomons, the first CEC officers to be killed in action in World War II.

1944:Less than a month after D-Day in France, while the Normandy invasion was still underway, the 81st NCB experienced one of those odd happenings of war on which legends are built. Early on the morning of July 2, Lt. Cmdr. Richard Anderson, Seabee medical officer for the recently-landed battalion, was visited in his foxhole by a breathless American military policeman. A woman in the nearby village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont was about to have a baby and a doctor was urgently needed. Anderson immediately dispatched his assistant medical officer, Lt. Douglas Butman. Butman arrived at the house only to discover that the young woman had spontaneously delivered her child, a little girl, only moments before. The doctor immediately rendered the appropriate postnatal care. In the days that followed, the medical staff of the battalion paid many visits to the home of Henri and Marie Fouchard. Finally, the time came for christening the baby girl. The mother asked Commander Anderson if the baby could bear a part of his wife’s name. Anderson delightedly suggested the initials of his wife’s maiden name, C.B., for he knew that such a choice would serve a two-fold purpose. The initials would honor his wife and also would honor the battalion as “Sea Bee.” Thus, Sea Bee Paule Fouchard was christened in honor of an informal battalion of godfathers who had attended her birth at the height of fighting in Normandy.

1966: NMCB 62 was commissioned and was the first battalion assigned to the NCBC, Gulfport, Mississippi, after the Center’s mission was increased “to provide home base facilities for naval construction battalions.”

1969:Seabee Team 0913 returned to NAS Point Mugu, California on a DC-8 aircraft from Da Nang, RVN.

July 3

1965: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 10 completes construction of the 8,000-foot Short Airfield for Tactical Support at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam, for the 1st Marine Air Wing.

July 4

1968:Twelve Seabees reported to the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) for duty with Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 302 two days late. While bound for Vietnam, the aircraft was forced down by Russian jets on a small island near Japan. The American crew and passengers were detained for 48 hours before the U.S. military-chartered aircraft was released by the Russians. The incident occurred because the Russians claimed the aircraft had violated Soviet air space.

July 5

1942:The 4th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) arrived at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. This was the first Seabee battalion to arrive in that area. Because of the variety of construction needs in Alaska, the battalion was employed at three different locations: one detachment of approximately 200 men went to Eider Point; another detachment of about 350 men went to Unalaska Village on Unalaska Island; and the remaining men were quartered in the Fort Mears Area on Amaknak Island.

1970: At an awards ceremony in Davisville, Rhode Island, the 21st Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) and 20th NCR, and Commander, Construction Battalions, Atlantic (COMCBLANT) were awarded the Navy Meritorious Unit Citation for meritorious service from September 1, 1965 to December 31, 1969.

July 6

1944:ACORN 9 was decommissioned. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A CBMU also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

On June 25, 1969, Seabee Team 13304 becomes the first Seabee Team sent to Moen Island, Truk in the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) in support of US civic action efforts. Under an agreement between the Secretaries of the Interior and Defense, and at the specific request of the Micronesian people, the Seabee Teams were sent to assist the Micronesians in constructing facilities, roads, and utilities to enhance the economic development and conditions of health in the TTPI. Similar 13-man teams continued to deploy to assist the Micronesians in Truk, Yap, Ponape, Kusaie, Marshalls, and Mariana Island groups into the 80s. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

June 25

1944: ACORN 18 was dissolved. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aero logical unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1969: Seabee Team 13304 landed at Moen Island in the Truk District of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). This was the first Seabee Team to be deployed to the TTPI. While on Moen, Seabee Team 13304 improved roads and water storage facilities. Members of the team also supervised the construction of two dispensaries on Tol Island and provided medical services to the residents of other islands in the TTPI.

June 26

1945: ACORN 55 commissioned at Argus Assembly and Training Detachment (AATD) Port Hueneme, California. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1963: A 280-foot hill at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (GTMO), Cuba was dedicated and named Denich Hill in honor of George J. Denich, Jr., a 21-year old Seabee who was fatally injured in an accident while constructing fortified defensive positions on the hill, April 10, 1963. Denich, an Equipment Operator (Construction Equipment) 3rd Class in the U.S. Naval Reserve, served at GTMO with Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 7 during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. He died in an accident while operating a mobile crane on the hill which now bears his name. During the dedication ceremony, his father, George J. Denich, Sr., unveiled a memorial plaque, which reads: “Denich Hill . . . Dedicated to the memory of George J. Denich, Jr., who gave his life in the service of his country on 10 April 1963 while engaged in the construction of fortifications to protect his fellow Americans.”

This GTMO monument plaque is dedicated to EON3 Denich and is located at the base of the hill where he was killed. It is at the end of Kittery Beach Road just before the Joint Task Force “Honor Bound” sign. (Photo by Army 1st Sgt. Michael Shimer, Joint Task Force-GTMO.)

1967: Seabee Team 0809 departed for Port Hueneme, California for training and eventual deployment to the Republic of Vietnam (RVN).

2007: Senior Chief Builder James Brooks, attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7, carefully placed mortar on a concrete block on a house being built in support of Pacific Partnership 2007 in Ligao, Philippines. More than 50 Sailors contributed to the project with an aim to complete 35 new houses. A detachment of Seabees from NMCB-7 was attached to amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) to assist the Philippine government in selected construction and engineering projects. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

June 27

1942:The Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Camp Endicott was established at Davisville, Rhode Island. It was named in honor of Rear Adm. Mordecai T. Endicott, the first Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officer to be appointed Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks. It was necessary to transfer personnel from the Naval Construction Training Center at Norfolk, Virginia to operate the station. Therefore, it wasn’t until August 12, 1942 before the first battalion started training at the camp. The capacity of the camp provided for ten battalions in training, totaling approximately 350 officers and 15,000 men. This capacity was reached early in November 1942. Both primary and advanced training were given at Camp Endicott.

1958:Two members of NMCB 1, Teleman Albert H. Matthews, and Builder 2nd Class Robert A. Wurst, were returning to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay from Guantanamo City, Cuba, when the report of a gun brought to a halt the civilian bus in which they were riding. Stopped by a jeep full of Fidel Castro’s soldiers, the bus driver, with his passengers including the two Seabees, was ordered to head up into the hills. When the bus could no longer make the steep mountain grades, its occupants were ordered to abandon it and proceed on foot. After walking most of the night they reached a small encampment. There they were given fruit and coffee. They were then loaded aboard a truck and carried deeper into the hills to another camp. Here the prisoners were not harmed, although living conditions were far from comfortable and consisted of eating mainly beans and rice. The release of the prisoners was subsequently obtained through negotiations with the rebel soldiers, and the two Seabees were picked up by a Navy helicopter and flown out of the hills.

2012:Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 23, based in Fort Belvoir, VA, watched the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a school they built in Morales, Honduras, with some of the students who would soon be attending classes there. The Fort Belvoir-based Seabees also completed a clinic in the town as part of U.S. Army South’s Beyond the Horizon 2012 exercise. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1969:NMCB 9’s main body, consisting of 19 officers and 657 enlisted men, begins return to Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California, on two 707s, two Super DC-8s, and one C-141 cargo flight from Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan.

2003:Joint Army, Navy and Marine engineers finished construction of a 762-foot floating steel bridge in Zubaydiyah, Iraq. Seabees from NMCB 7, NMCB 133, Naval Construction Support Team 2 from Port Hueneme, ACB 1, and ACB 2 worked with their Army and Marine partners to construct and emplace the bridge.

June 30

1943: American armed forces stormed ashore on Woodlark and Kiriwina Islands in the western Solomon Sea. Seabees of the 20th and 60th NCBs landed on Woodlark on D-Day. In the jungle, the Seabees hacked out a network of trails in order to dispense supplies unloaded on the beach. Soon they converted the trails to coral roads. On Woodlark, the Seabees also built a 6,500-foot airstrip. They then completed two more airstrips on Kiriwina. From these airfields, allied bombers swept north to bomb New Guinea and Rabaul.

19 June 1968 – NMCB 58’s main body redeployed from Hoi An to Camp Haskins North, RVN. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

June 17

1833: USS Delaware was the first ship to enter the first completed U.S. Navy drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard. William P.S. Sanger, then a civil engineer apprentice, served as resident engineer during construction of the drydock.

1881: In response to a letter of April 12, 1881 from Civil Engineer Benjamin F. Chandler, CEC, U.S. Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh established that the Navy civil engineers were, in fact, officers belonging to the Navy’s staff corps, thereby entitled to be retired from active duty and placed on the retired list.

1968: The Moreell Wing of the CEC-Seabee Museum was dedicated at Port Hueneme, California. The u-shaped structure, composed of steel Butler buildings, houses the thousands of artifacts and memorabilia collected by Admiral Ben Moreell during his 29-year career in the United States Navy. Most of the souvenirs housed in the wing were collected during World War II when Admiral Moreell became the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and founded and commanded the Seabees.

2009: Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11 offloaded CONEX boxes from the Liberty Maritime Corp. owned M/V Alliance New York. The equipment was being staged for transport to Camp Mitchell, Spain. NMCB-11 off-loaded the new Table of Allowance for the Naval Construction Force (NCF) in Rota, Spain. The new equipment helped re-establish Camp Mitchell as a main body site for forward-deployed Seabee units to better outfit NCF units for deployment. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

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June 18

1943: The 97th NCB formed at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia.

1946: The 143rd NCB was inactivated at Samar Island, Philippines.

1968:In support of the U.S. Navy’s Civic Action Programs, Seabee Team 0911 returned to CONUS via C-118 aircraft, upon the completion of a six-month deployment to northern Thailand.

2014: A member of the Afghan National Engineer Brigade (NEB) proudly displayed his certificate of training to fellow brigade members at a graduation ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan. The brigade received training in carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and other engineering skills taught by members of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Two Five (NMCB 25). Members of NMCB 25 were in Afghanistan performing partnering operations to develop and sustain the specialty and general engineering capabilities of the NEB in order to provide critical engineer skill sets to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

June 20

1967: Seabee Team 0307 arrived in the continental U.S. (CONUS) from Vietnam; Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 301 main body leaves Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Port Hueneme, California for Da Nang, RVN, with the primary mission of maintaining the advance airfields in the I Corps area.

1968: Dong Ha Combat Base in Vietnam came under enemy artillery fire resulting in the destruction of the Dong Ha (Ammunition Supply Point (ASP). Three NMCB 5 personnel, Builder (Heavy) 2nd Class R.D. Eastman, Construction Mechanic (Automotive) 3rd Class B.E. Hall, and Builder (Concrete) 3rd Class F.J. Rupert were injured as a result of the action. Camp Barnes received major structural damages to all shop areas and damages varying from slight to major in the berthing and administrative areas.

June 21

1968: NMCB 58 deployed from Hoi An to Da Nang, RVN and established battalion command at Camp Haskins, North, RVN.

1969: NMCB 58’s Detail Quebec at Cam Lo, RVN crusher site credited with at least one enemy killed when they discovered a body during sweep of the area prior to starting work. The enemy soldier had apparently been setting a booby trap when he detonated another booby trap set by the Seabees the evening before. Local Vietnamese said other Viet Cong had been killed but were carried off during the night.

June 22

1945:The 69th NCB was the first full Seabee battalion to move by air from one location to another. It was flown in echelons from Bremen, Germany, to London, England, a distance of about 600 miles.

1968: NMCB 3’s advance party departed CBC, Port Hueneme, California in three flights on C-130 aircraft from Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California to RVN.

1970:Seabee Team 0707 arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island from Vietnam for reassignment to NMCB 7.

June 2008: Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 7 conducted a live fire demonstration with their M2 machine guns during the battalion’s unit field exercise onboard Camp Shelby, Mississippi. NMCB-7 was out in the field on its FEX to test its deployment readiness. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

June 23

1942: The 7th NCB arrived at the Naval Advance Base Depot Receiving Barracks at Port Hueneme, California. This was the first Seabee battalion to occupy and stage through the Port Hueneme Depot. While at the receiving barracks, it underwent advanced military and construction training, and was outfitted for overseas duty.

1944: The 1st NCB was inactivated.

1945: The 47th NCB was inactivated at Noumea, New Caledonia.

1969:Seabee Team 0603 returned to Davisville, Rhode Island.

1970: NMCB 7 turned Camp Shields, Chu Lai, RVN over to the U.S. Army, thus closing the oldest Seabee camp in Vietnam. Cmdr. P. Oliver, Jr., CEC, commanding officer of NMCB 7, and the last of the battalion’s main body, departed Vietnam and arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island on this date.

1971: In a ceremony at the 21st NCR, Lt. Cmdr. D.L. McCorvey, CEC, relieved Cmdr. P. Oliver, Jr., CEC, as commanding officer of NMCB 71. Oliver then relieved Cmdr. C.V.W. Popowich, CEC, as commanding officer of NMCB 1. It was the first time in Naval Construction Force (NCF) history that a double battalion change of command ceremony was conducted.

2005:An improvised explosive device killed NMCB 18’s Navy Culinary Specialist 1st Class Regina Renee Clark of Centralia, Washington, when it detonated near her convoy vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq. Clark became the first female Seabee ever killed in action, and arguably the first female enlisted woman in the Navy ever killed in action. Two other women were killed in the vehicle with Clark from the explosion.

We forgot to post this photo last week of Seabee VBSS.

12 June 2015: Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5 and British Royal Marines prepared to board the British Indian Ocean Territory patrol ship Pacific Marlin near Diego Garcia in a joint visit, board, search and seizure training exercise. NMCB 5 and the British Royal Marines conduct joint training in order to strengthen interoperability. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)
]]>Kicking Ash: The Seabees of Operation Fiery Vigilhttp://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/06/15/kicking-ash-the-seabees-of-operation-fiery-vigil/
http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/06/15/kicking-ash-the-seabees-of-operation-fiery-vigil/#respondFri, 15 Jun 2018 18:00:29 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=5599By Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Naval History and Heritage CommandNaval Station Subic Bay, July 8, 1991, covered in ash. (Photo from U.S. Navy)

Throughout the proud history of the Naval Construction Force (NCF), the Seabees have overcome a variety of obstacles – enemy forces, geography and climate. In June 1991, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Republic of the Philippines found the Seabees adding “volcano cleanup” to their repertoire of skills. In the ensuing months as part of Operation Fiery Vigil, members of Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCBs) 3, 4 and 5 and Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 302 “kicked ash” and cleared hundreds of thousands of tons of material from Naval Station Subic Bay and Naval Air Station Cubi Point.

With a force of 62.7 pounds per square foot, the wet volcanic ash collapsed the roofs of countless buildings at Cubi Point and Subic Bay, including this one at the naval station, July 8, 1991. With torches, hand tools and front-end loaders, Seabees dismantled and demolished some structures and repaired the roofs of others. (Photo from U.S. Navy)

Nestled in the Zambales Mountains on the island of Luzon, the 4,800-foot-tall Mount Pinatubo had remained dormant for more than 600 years before experiencing renewed volcanic activity in April 1991. A period of local earthquakes followed by steam explosions commenced a rapid 10-week period of increasing signs of an impending explosion. Only nine miles east of the volcano stood Clark Air Base, home to 15,000-plus U.S. Air Force personnel and dependents, all directly in the path of possible pyroclastic flows and intense ash fall. Approximately 25 miles to the southwest stood Subic Bay and Cubi Point, both locations that volcanologists and emergency planners considered safe, and outside the range of serious damage. On June 9, Pinatubo experienced a minor eruption, prompting the evacuation of 14,500 people from Clark to the naval installations the following day. A 50-mile-long convoy of vehicles snaked its way to the coast, and the evacuees soon overwhelmed every base facility. Two days later, Pinatubo erupted again, throwing ash and smoke 10 miles high over an area of 15 miles in width, blanketing Clark with fine ash.

The cataclysmic lateral eruption of Mount Pinatubo, June 15, 1991. Photo taken moments after the eruption commenced. (Photo from U.S. Coast Gaurd)

Typhoon Yunya beginning to collide with Mount Pinatubo’s ash cloud as seen from space, June 15, 1991, hours before the volcano’s climactic eruption. (Image created by National Air and Space Administration (NASA) using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA)

These minor eruptions were precursors to the main event on June 15. At 5:55 a.m., local time, the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century began as Pinatubo erupted in a climactic fury. A lateral blast of searing hot gas, rock and ash immediately enveloped an area six miles wide to the cloud base. Clark, and most of Luzon, fell into almost total darkness as the ash cloud grew to cover an area of 48,000 square miles. Further compounding the hellish situation, Typhoon Yunya made landfall on the island around noon on the fifteenth, passing approximately 50 miles northeast of Pinatubo as it degraded into a tropical storm. Yunya’s winds and rain mixed with Pinatubo’s ash, creating a gray, slurry-like mud which began to rain down on Clark, Subic Bay and Cubi Point.

Volcanic ash covered Clark Air Base, including these abandoned automobiles, June 16, 1991. (Photo from U.S. Coast Guard)

Crammed into every available space at Subic Bay and Cubi Point, the ordeal was just beginning for more than 28,000 American service members, civilian employees and dependents. Without power and the skies black from the ash, everybody huddled with flashlights or candles throughout the nine-hour eruption, listening or praying. Outside, a chorus of slashing winds and torrents of muddy rain serenaded the Americans, amidst earthquakes of varying intensity. Worse sounds were heard, from lightning strikes to falling trees, to the jarring crashes of roofs collapsing under the weight of wet ash. At Clark, over 100 buildings collapsed and another 500 suffered damage. Lahars (mudflows of pyroclastic material), debris and water with the thickness of concrete, roared into Clark and irreparably damaged the base resulting in its closure in November 1991. At Subic Bay, more than 150 buildings collapsed or experienced significant structural damage from the one-two of Pinatubo and Yunya. Anywhere from six to 14 inches of wet ash covered literally everything at Subic Bay and Cubi Point. Cleanup seemed difficult to impossible, but no volcano ever before had to contend with the Seabees.

On June 10, 1991, Adm. Charles Larson, commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Command, activated Joint Task Force – Fiery Vigil to protect American lives and property. A massive evacuation effort by sea and air swiftly commenced to move Clark’s population and some of Subic’s and Cubi’s residents back to the United States. For the Seabees, a detachment of 90 members of NMCB 3 set to work at Subic Bay from June 15-20 clearing 5,000 feet of runway to permit C-130 operations to help evacuate personnel and ferry in relief supplies. To supplement the effort, 100 additional members of NMCB 3 arrived from the main body in Guam to join CBMU 302, stationed at Subic Bay. Furthermore, detachments of NMCB 4 were redirected from a scheduled deployment in Okinawa together with their entire table of allowance from Saudi Arabia and a second directly from Port Hueneme. Collectively, work commenced on clearing roads and unclogging drainage channels, repairing downed electrical lines and restoring power, as well as addressing shortages in food and potable water.

World Airways DC-10, Naval Air Station Cubi Point, on the flight line weighed down by thick, water-soaked ash, June 17, 1991. (Photo from U.S. Navy)

Upon arriving in the area of operations, the working conditions made lasting impressions on the Seabees. EOC Jerry H. Luzadder, part of an advanced transportation and water well team from NMCB 4, remembered how “there was still ash in the air with rain and lighting,” adding that “as we flew into Cubi Point it looked from the air as if it had snowed in the Philippines.”

Members of NMCB 4 stayed in George Dewey High School at Subic Bay, “in the classrooms with cots and ash flowing underneath them,” writes CE1 Richard T. Landon, tasked with restoring base power. Over at Cubi Point, UTCS David J. Crowell stayed in the barracks where “everything was grey, dark grey and black with the air full of ash particles. There was grit in everything!”

Collective Seabee experiences, from Alaska to the deserts of Saudi Arabia proved useful in the clean-up effort. The ash, recalls Landon, was granular, white-grey in color and created a powdery dust which proved hazardous to work in. Thanks to almost constant rain, the ash formed a sort of concrete slurry.

“It was hard to gather up because it would move ahead of our loader buckets like a wave of the ocean,” recalls Luzadder. But he explained that the men used a technique from Adak, Alaska, for snow removal.

By forming a berm of ash to one side of the runway, then picking it up or pushing it to the end, the equipment operators could quickly clear the runways for air traffic. The ash would then be dumped at the end of the runway, at assorted collection sites or in the ocean itself. The fine ash and grit, much like the desert sand NMCB 4 experienced in Operation Desert Shield/Storm, clogged machinery and air filters and air conditioners, forcing anything with a motor to be checked constantly for wear and breakdowns. To restore the base power, Landon and the other construction electricians either climbed poles or used bucket trucks to clean the conductive ash off every single line and insulator before the power grid could be restored.

The Naval Magazines (NAVMAG) at Subic Bay and Cubi Point each suffered extensive damage. With approximately eight inches of wet ash exerting a force of 62.7 pounds per square foot, the volcanic tephra collapsed pre-engineered buildings and damaged the roofs of permanent structures. To remove the munitions, the Seabees literally had to cut corners.

Remembers Crowell: “We were cutting down buildings in the magazine area mostly by hand, using torches and hand tools and a track front end loader with a clam shell bucket to tear off building chunks in the pouring rain. Under our feet were missiles and ammunition of all types and we wondered if we were going to blow ourselves up trying to get to them. Eventually, we just forgot all about what was under us and pulled the magazine area apart so that weapons personnel could move the weapons to new locations.”

Two Seabees from NMCB 4 ready a K-span machine for use at Subic Bay, August 8, 1991. To assist in the assembly of the K-spans, four members of NMCB 5 flew in from Port Hueneme to instruct NMCB 4 based on recent experiences in Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Note the inverted “V” on the machine, used to mark friendly coalition force vehicles in Operation Desert Storm. NMCB 4 redirected their entire table of allowance from Saudi Arabia straight to the Philippines for Operation Fiery Vigil. (Photo from U.S. Navy)

And, if the risk of accidental detonation was not enough fun, Landon and Luzadder not so fondly remember that the monkeys by the NAVMAGs would attack people for food by the galley. “They would take over your vehicle,” notes Landon. “You had to throw fruit in the opposite direction to get back to your vehicle.”

Monkeys, munitions and ash aside, the enormity of the task required a greater force. As the number of Seabees increased in July, so did the need for command and control. An NCF under the leadership of NMCB 4’s Commanding Officer, Cmdr. James Corbett, stood up to oversee the Seabee force of 540 men and women from the battalions, CBMU, Public Works and MUSE. Working six days a week and 11-hour days, the “ash kickers” had moved 125,070 cubic yards of ash from the Cubi Point airfield, hospital and magazine alone, totaling over 110,000 tons of material, by Sept. 1991. By the completion of the ash clearing work at Cubi in early October, this figure stood at more than 251,000 tons of ash removed from over 50 miles of paved surfaces.

Under Corbett, the assembled force also demolished 33 buildings damaged or destroyed by the falling ash, finished construction on a refueler maintenance building and constructed 25 K-span structures to replace some of those lost. Four members of NMCB 5 flew in to Subic from Port Hueneme, Calif., to train a select crew from NMCBs 3 and 4 in construction of the K-spans, sharing a wealth of knowledge accrued over months of work with the structures after a deployment in Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm.

Seabees at Subic Bay and Cubi Point used a combination of a front loader and bulldozer to create berms of ash slurry before pushing it off to collection points for disposal. Photo taken October 19, 1991, Naval Station Subic Bay. (Photo from U.S. Navy)

Even before the one-two devastation wrought by a volcano and a typhoon, the fate of Clark, Subic Bay, and Cubi Point lay in the hands of American and Philippine negotiators. Commencing in fall of 1990 and continuing until Pinatubo’s eruption, both governments met and attempted to negotiate a new 10-year lease for the Air Force and Navy installations to replace an agreement expiring in mid-September 1991. With Clark buried under ash and lahars, and repairs estimated at upwards of $800 million, on July 17 a joint U.S.-Philippine announcement declared plans to close the air base but extend the American lease on Subic Bay and Cubi Point for a decade. In September, however, the Senate in the Philippines voted against the new American lease. In December, the Philippine government ordered the United States to withdraw by the end of 1992.

With the end of America’s military presence in the Philippines all but foretold, the Seabee rebuilding effort at Subic Bay and Cubi Point ended in December 1991. Nevertheless, the Seabees were not quite ready to leave Cubi Point without commemorating another monumental operation to move mountains, albeit of ash. At a park aptly named Seabee Point overlooking the South China Sea, Cmdr. Corbett and other Seabee dignitaries unveiled a monument to the collective clean-up effort. The plaque read: “SEABEE POINT – Dedicated to the ‘Ash kick’n’ Seabees of the Naval Construction Force for their relentless dedication to Mount Pinatubo Disaster Recovery ‘Operation Phoenix’ June – October 1991.”

For the Seabees of Operation Fiery Vigil who “kicked ash” and literally removed a volcanic mountain from Subic Bay and Cubi Point, a monument was erected at Naval Air Station Cubi Point, fall of 1991. After the base closing, the plaque returned to Port Hueneme and resides in the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum. From left to right: Lt. Manny Delgado, officer in charge, NMCB 3; Cmdr. James Corbett, commander, NMCB 4; Lt. Mark Libonate, commander, CBMU 302. (Photo from U.S. Navy)

Having moved half a mountain to construct Cubi Point, it was only fitting for the Seabees to erect new structures, literally from the ashes. When the United States formally turned over the naval installations at Subic Bay and Cubi Point to the Philippines on Nov. 24, 1992, the Seabees brought the plaque back to Port Hueneme, a tribute to all those who moved mountains – and pushed aside a volcano.

USS Robert Stethem (DDG-63), named in honor of Steelworker 2nd Class Robert Stethem, circa 1995. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

June 10

1944: Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia disestablished.

1965: The first Seabee killed in action in Vietnam, Steelworker 2nd Class William C. Hoover, was killed at the Battle of Dong Xoai. Although wounded in the initial Viet Cong mortar barrage, Hoover quickly went to his assigned defensive post and began firing at the enemy. He was subsequently killed in the fighting. For his heroism, Hoover was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star. Also killed in the battle was Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin C. Shields, the first Seabee to receive the Medal of Honor. Both men were members of Seabee Team 1104.

2010: Utilitiesman Constructionman James Thomas, left, and other Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 25, worked with fabricated sheet metal at a construction site at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. NMCB-25, deployed from Fort McCoy, Wis., was supporting Joint Task Force Guantanamo and Naval Station Guantanamo Bay by completing construction projects to improve facilities on the base. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1965: In Costa Rica, three members of a detachment from Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 1 saved the lives of three Costa Ricans who were stranded by a six-foot-deep mud flow during a flood control project. No deaths or injuries were reported and property damage was light in the San Jose and Cartago area, where a flood in December 1963 had left nearly 5,000 homeless.

1943: ACORN 2 dissolved. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1966: Approximately 60 Seabees from Construction Battalion Center (CBC) Port Hueneme, California were sent to help fight the fire in the Los Padres National Forest, 35 miles northeast of Santa Barbara.

1944: Operation Forager, as the Marianas campaign in World War II was named, began on June 15, 1944, when 20,000 Marines and Seabees were put ashore on the beaches of Saipan. Seabees of the 121st NCB formed the shore party on the main invasion beach. By June 18, Marines captured Aslito, the main Japanese airfield on Saipan, and that very day, Seabees went to work repairing the bomb damage to the runways. Four days later, the first American fighter planes landed on the strip, and four months later, the Seabees had lengthened and widened the runways so that B-29s could take off for their first bombing of Japan. Japanese troops counterattacked against Aslito airfield and halted the Seabee construction work, but the Seabees grabbed up their arms and held them off. By July 9, Saipan was secured.

Steelworker 2nd Class Robert Stethem preparing for a dive while part of UCT-1 in the early 1980s. Stethem was killed by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon, following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 on June 15, 1985. He was posthumously awarded both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and was later made an honorary Master Chief Constructionman in a ceremony aboard USS Stethem (DDG-63). (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1985: Steelworker 2nd Class (DV) Robert Stethem is killed by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. He received posthumously both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and was promoted to honorary Master Chief Constructionman on August 24, 2010, in Yokosuka, Japan aboard the USS Stethem, named in his honor.

1991: On the island of Luzon, Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts, destroying Clark Air Base and burying Naval Station Subic Bay and Naval Air Station Cubi Point in a thick layer of ash. In the ensuing Operation Fiery Vigil, members of NMCBs 3, 4, 5, and CBMU 302 work to clear the naval facilities. By October 1991, the Seabees moved 251,000 tons of ash from over 50 miles of paved surfaces.

2006: Seabees prepared a site for the construction of a bridge in Fallujah, Iraq. Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Four Zero (NMCB-40) were tasked with rebuilding a damaged bridge used heavily by Iraqi citizens. NMCB-40 was deployed providing support to Coalition Multi-National Forces throughout Iraq. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

2010: After 672 hours of around-the-clock work, NMCB 7’s Detachment Horn of Africa (HOA) successfully drilled its first freshwater well in the village of Adgia Falima, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. This was the first of seven hand-pump operated wells scheduled to be drilled in the Dire Dawa and Shinele regions during its deployment.

1968: Seabee Team 0808 departed Bangkok, Thailand via government aircraft for the continental U.S. (CONUS).

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June 9-25 1952: Operation Crippled Chick

One of the most incredible Seabee feats of the Korean War took place on the small island of Yo Do in the Bay of Wonsan. In communist hands again in 1952, Wonsan was a key supply and transportation center for the enemy. As such, carrier-based aircraft strikes against Wonsan and points deeper in the interior were numerous and constant. Planes were hit by enemy fire daily leaving their pilots with the unhappy choice of either ditching at sea or attempting to land in enemy-held territory. The need for an emergency airstrip was critical and, under the code name Operation “Crippled Chick,” a detachment of Seabees came to the rescue. Put ashore on Yo Do Island, they were given 35 days to construct a runway. Working under constant artillery bombardment from neighboring enemy positions, they managed to complete the 2,400-foot airstrip in only 16 days. By a prearranged signal, “Steak is Ready,” the Seabees signaled that the job was done, and nine damaged aircraft landed on the new field that same day.

During the Normandy invasion in World War II, Seabees with the 111th Naval Construction Battalion unload heavy equipment from a Rhino ferry, June 1944. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

June 3

1965: The main body of NMCB 9 departed Port Hueneme, California, aboard the USNS Blatchford for Vietnam. This was the first battalion to depart from the continental limits of the United States for duty in Vietnam. Previously, NMCB 10 had departed from Okinawa and NMCB 3 had departed from Guam. NMCB 9 arrived in Da Nang on 27 June.

2007: Builder 2nd Class Michael Schneider (left) attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 7, raked concrete with his Philippines Navy Seabee counterpart, Fireman 1st Class Builder Elmer Ang. They are part of over 50 Seabees from both countries working on an Engineering Civic Action Project (ENCAP) for the students and teachers of Kuampurnah Elementary School in Isabella, Philippines. The concrete work was the beginning of a larger courtyard at the school during the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise series. Carat is an annual series of bilateral maritime training exercises between the United States and six Southeast Asia nations designed to build relationships and enhance the operational readiness of the participating forces. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

2005: Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 24 lifted a 80′ wall section for a hospital triage wing under construction in Al Asad, Iraq. NMCB-24 was deployed to central and western Iraq in support on the global war on terrorism. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

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June 6

1943: Naval Combat Demolition Unit (NCDU) training school established at Amphibious Training Base Fort Pierce, Florida. Volunteers assembled for the first classes came from the Bomb and Mine Disposal School in Washington, D.C. and from Camp Peary, Virginia (both Seabees and CEC officers).

1944:In the initial stage of the Allied invasion of Normandy, Seabees formed the nucleus of naval combat demolition units. Each demolition unit was under the command of a junior officer of the Navy Civil Engineer Corps. Team members placed explosive charges beneath the underwater steel barriers that prevented thousands of ships from reaching shore. As they were placing the charges the teams were under constant fire from the enemy. Whole teams were wiped out when shells hit their explosives. The men ignored the dangers and kept at their work. When the explosive charges were placed, survivors remained on the beach or swam back to the landing ships waiting in the channel. The explosives went off on schedule and huge holes were blown into the German defenses. Ships and landing craft darted for the shore through gaps in the barriers. Thousands of Seabees were soon manhandling their pontoon causeways onto the beach to let the infantry charge ashore.

1967:Khe Sanh came under enemy mortar attack. Builder (Light) 3rd Class C.A. Hubbard was killed in action; six men were wounded in action.

June 7

2008: Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 and Armed Forces of the Philippines soldiers from the 546th Engineer Construction Battalion carried a wooden form to the construction site to create concrete manholes for the Greenland subdivision septic tank system Calbayog City, Philippines during a Pacific Partnership engineering civic action program. The Pacific Partnership team of regional partners, non-governmental organizations (NGO), military engineers, doctors and healthcare providers was been asked by the government of the Philippines to conduct various medical, dental and civic-action programs in the area. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

June 9

1943: ACORN 1 dissolved. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1943:This photograph shows Seabees with Construction Battalion Detachment 1006 crossing the Mediterranean onboard LST 388 taking part in the Sicilian Invasion. Causeways that aided the troops ashore can be seen as they are strapped alongside the LST. Pontoons and causeways, a new invention at the time which had yet to be tested in wartime efforts, were about to make their debut in the Atlantic Theater. This was the first use of causeways in war and showed there versatility and indispensability in amphibious landings. CBD 1006 also took part in the Normandy Invasion in June 1944. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1952: In Korea, a detachment from Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 landed behind enemy lines on the island of Yo. There they built an emergency landing airstrip for crippled U.S. Marine aircraft. The planned 2,400 foot runway had been estimated to be a 45-day project. The Seabees finished it in 16 days.

1965: Just before midnight on June 9, 1965, an estimated 2,000 Viet Cong launched an attack upon the still unfinished U.S. Special Forces camp at Dong Xoai in the Republic of Vietnam. The men of Seabee Team 1104, who were building the camp, joined with a small detachment of U.S. Army Special Forces and 400 RVN irregular forces to put up a heroic defense. At daybreak on June 10th, human wave attacks of Viet Cong made further resistance impossible, so the surviving defenders were evacuated by helicopter.

District Headquarters Building at Dong Xoai, June 1965. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Nine members of Seabee Team 1104, 11 members of U.S. Army Special Forces “A” Team 342, and a Vietnamese defense force of approximately 400 men were at Dong Xoai when, just before midnight, elements of the Viet Cong 9th Division, later estimated to be a reinforced regiment of approximately 2,000 men attacked, Two members of the team – CM3 Marvin Shields and SW2 Hoover were killed in action and all surviving members were wounded in action. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1968: An NMCB 5 patrol, patrolling the area south of Sector II on the Dong Ha Combat Base, RVN, set off an explosive device resulting in the injury of one member of the patrol, Builder (Heavy) 3rd Class T.L. Richart.

In 1963, Seabee Teams were sent to Thailand to assist in the Royal Thai Government’s Accelerated Rural Development Program. In the northern provinces these diversified units taught and advised local Thais in an effort to help them form the cadre of essential rural public works organizations. Three years of diligent work in this region was finally concluded in May 1966. In this photograph, circa 1966, Seabees are installing a water well. (Photo by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

May 27

1961:Detachment Kilo of NMCB 14 arrived in Holy Loch, Scotland. The Seabees had come for the purpose of erecting a floating dry dock, capable of docking Polaris submarines. A floating dry dock had not been erected since the end of World War II. The dry dock to be installed at Holy Loch was of World War II-vintage and had been kept in mothballs since the war. When it was decided that an overseas repair facility for Polaris submarines was a strategic necessity, the dock was reactivated and towed from Green Cove Springs, Florida, to Holy Loch, Scotland. To complete the dry dock, the Seabees’ major tasks consisted of placing 22 mooring legs weighing approximately 1,000 tons each, jacking eight wing-wall structures weighing 450 tons each to a vertical position, erecting more than 825 feet of steel structure to support cranes weighing 240 tons, and welding four dock sections. In addition, Seabees installed electrical, plumbing and interior communication systems. Other projects included erecting living and office spaces, and painting the exterior and interior of the dry dock.

1968: NMCB 5’s Advance Party, comprised of one officer in charge and 16 enlisted personnel departed Camp Barnes to Da Nang, RVN and returned to CBC, Port Hueneme, California, with NMCB 9’s main flights on 30 May 1968.

1971: Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 1 returned from Keflavik, Iceland.

1974: On Memorial Day 1974, the Seabee Memorial Monument was dedicated. The monument is located on Memorial Drive leading to the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. It depicts the Seabee as builder, fighter and ambassador of good will. The larger-than-life-size figure of a Seabee on the monument stands in front of a semicircular bronze bas-relief on which is portrayed a panorama of Seabees in their various construction trades.

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May 28

1963: The first Seabee Team to Thailand, 0902, deployed to commence the joint Seabee civic action program. Between May 1963 and December 1965, 10 Seabee Teams trained students and built roads, dams and other community projects in seven provinces in northern and northeastern Thailand.

May 29

1968: NMCB 9 main body returned to the continental United States (CONUS) on three super DC-8 passenger aircraft and two cargo/passenger aircraft. All flights terminated at Naval Air Station (NAS) Point Mugu, California, except one Super DC-8 aircraft which landed at Los Angeles International Airport (concluded 3 June).

May 29-June 3, 1968: NMCB 9 main body, consisting of 22 officers and 648 enlisted men, returned to CONUS via three Super DC-8 passenger aircraft and two C-141 cargo/passenger aircraft. All flights terminated at NAS Point Mugu, California, except for one Super DC-8 aircraft which landed at Los Angeles International Airport.

1968:NMCB 1’s main body deployed via three DC-8 and two C-141 aircraft from Davisville, Rhode Island, to Da Nang, RVN.

1969: An edition of the Davisville Yardarm featured a Memorial Day tribute to “recall to memory these Seabees who died in the service of their country in Vietnam to remind ourselves of the great debt we owe them.”

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May 30

1943: ACORN 8 arrived at Noumea. Later moved to Guadalcanal, Munda and Russells for restaging and then on to Biak. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A construction battalion maintenance unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places as Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

1944: The versatile match of Seabee and bulldozer is an image which will never be forgotten by citizens of Falmouth, England. When a German air strike exploded a fuel dump and sent a river of flaming gasoline flowing downhill toward the town, Seabee Philip Bishop, NMCB 81, quickly bulldozed a dam which stopped the channel of fire and saved the community from destruction. The bulldozer-fireman received the British Empire Medal (Military) and the enduring gratitude of an English seaport town.

1944:26th NCR commissioned.

1945: ACORN 8 decommissioned.

1965: The second section of the main body of NMCB 3 arrived in Vietnam aboard the USS Belle Grove from Guam.

1972:The Vietnam Detachment of the Commander, Naval Construction Battalions, United States Pacific Fleet was disestablished at Port Hueneme, California. The detachment exercised operational, administrative, troops and technical control over all Seabee Teams employed in Vietnam. The last Seabee Team site in Vietnam was closed in April 1972, and the RVN detachment was transferred to the 31st NCR at Port Hueneme for dissolution.

June 1

1944: 11th NCR inactivated.

1945: 114th NCB inactivated at Attu and reconstituted as CBD 1161. 134th NCB activated in the field at Guam.

1946: 140th NCB inactivated at Manus.

1965: At Chu Lai, RVN, NMCB 10 constructed a 4,000-foot aluminum plank Short Airfield for Tactical Support (SATS) for Marine Air Group 12. The first eight A-4s landed at the field on June 1, with the first air strikes launched hours later in the day.

1966: The 3rd Naval Construction Brigade, which gained renown in the Southwest Pacific area during World War II, was reestablished in Saigon, RVN, to exercise operational control over the NCRs and other directly assigned Naval Construction Force units. The brigade was commanded by Rear Adm. Robert R. Wooding, CEC.

1966: Construction Battalion Unit (CBU) 201 was commissioned at Davisville, Rhode Island, and assigned to the 21st NCR. CBU 201 would later serve in repeated deployments to the Amundsen – Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica.

June 2

June 2-3, 1942: Attu and Kiska, Alaska, were occupied by the Japanese after their unsuccessful attack on Dutch Harbor. Approximately 2,000 Japanese composed the Attu garrison, and the main installation at Kiska was several times larger and better developed.

1945:130th NCB, Okinawa, (Operator) Machinist Mate 2nd Class John Wiebe and (Helper) Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Harry Lehr were operating their bulldozer in a road near the beach. Suddenly they and their machine dropped out of sight. When workers nearby looked around all was emptiness except for a gaping hole. After recovering from their astonishment they walked over and looked into the chasm. About 15 feet down was the vanished dozer with Wiebe still at the controls –with a surprised look on his face. Demolition crews blasted a ramp and the “cat” was driven out and back to work by Wiebe, who received only minor lacerations from his experience.

1969: Seabee Team 7103 was assigned to the 21st NCR for 18 weeks of specialized training.

]]>This Week in Seabee History (May 20 – May 26)http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/05/20/this-week-in-seabee-history-may-20-may-26/
Sun, 20 May 2018 13:00:12 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=16574Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage CommandOn Memorial Day 1974, the Seabee Memorial Monument was dedicated. The monument is located on Memorial Drive leading to the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. It depicts the Seabee as builder, fighter and ambassador of good will. The larger-than-life-size figure of a Seabee on the monument stands in front of a semicircular bronze bas-relief on which is portrayed a panorama of Seabees in their various construction trades. (Photo by NAVFAC Public Affairs)

May 21

1966: The first five flights of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 8 departed Vietnam for the continental United State (CONUS). Seabees on the first three flights had to be transported to Da Nang airfield by helicopter because of road blocks caused by civil strife in the city of Da Nang.

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May 22

1964:A team of 33 Navy Seabees and 271 tons of heavy equipment was airlifted to Costa Rica to carry out emergency flood control measures in the Mount Irazu Volcano area and along the Reventado River. The assistance was requested by the government of Costa Rica. While there, the Seabees placed more than 700,000 cubic yards of material along the dikes, and strengthened and rebuilt portions of a dike weakened by floods. Furthermore, the Seabees trained Costa Ricans to use modern flood control equipment and techniques. For their work, the Seabees received special recognition from the President of Costa Rica, as well as from several high-ranking United States officials.

2008: A joint U.S. Army-Navy-Marine Corps and Iraqi engineer group completed construction of a 301-meter bridge at Baghdadi, Iraq, over the Euphrates River. Seabee steelworkers from NMCB 17 worked with their counterparts in the Army 814th Engineer Company to weld the components together.

May 23

1942: 8th NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

1965:Part of NMCB 3 main body departed Guam on the USS Belle Grove for Vietnam.

1968:NMCB 10 Detail Juliet was authorized to wear the Presidential Unit Citation by Commandant of the Marine Corps for service performed at Khe Sanh, RVN, during the period of Jan. 10 to April 1, 1968 in support of the 26th Regiment, U.S. Marines.

2012:Camp Moreell, Kuwait, formally closed during a ceremony held on Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait. The camp served as the main Seabee ground base and assembly point for all Seabees and Sailors deployed across Southwest Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

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May 24

1943: ACORN 7 arrived at Guadalcanal. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

1945:Approximately 50 Seabees of the 87th NCB were working the night shift at the Yontan Airfield on Okinawa when the airfield was bombed and then subjected to an attack by airborne enemy demolition squads. This was the debut of the Giretsu, Japanese, suicide warriors. As the first enemy aircraft screeched along the coral airstrip, the Japanese soldiers within it leaped for the ground, tumbling head-over-heels. They quickly recovered themselves and sprinted off into the darkness. Immediately thereafter from all directions, blinding flashes illuminated the hardstands. Gas tanks exploded and parked planes became flaming infernos. The enemy soldiers were destroying U.S. planes with magnesium grenades and phosphorous bombs. Seabees and Marines grabbed their guns and began firing at the Japanese, who by now, were silhouetted around the burning planes. When the action was over, all of the invading saboteurs were dead. However, 20 United States planes were completely destroyed and a fuel dump was in flames.

May 25

1942:5th NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

1946: 125th NCB inactivated on Okinawa.

2009: Cmdr. Duane G. Wolfe, CEC, U.S. Navy Reserve (USNR), Los Osos, California, was killed along with three other people by a roadside bomb in Fallujah, Iraq. Wolfe was serving as officer-in-charge of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division’s Al Anbar Area Office. He is the highest ranking CEC officer ever killed in action.

1949:The main body of 12 officers and 354 enlisted men from NMCB 6 returned to Davisville, Rhode Island, on two DC-8 aircraft from Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico.

1970: NMCB 3 main body returned to CONUS via government aircraft.

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May 26

1943: 92nd NCB formed at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia.

1965: The first section NMCB 3 main body arrived in RVN aboard the USS Port Defiance from Guam.

1965: NMCB 3 landed at Da Nang, RVN, to commence construction of the large military complex at Da Nang and Da Nang East. In the next four months, NMCBs 5, 8 and 9 joined NMCB 3 in the construction of cantonments, roads, piers, and storage buildings and yards.

]]>This Week in Seabee History (May 13 – May 19)http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/05/14/this-week-in-seabee-history-may-13-may-19/
Mon, 14 May 2018 17:25:30 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=16513Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage CommandA Seabee in full deep-water diving gear used by the combat demolition units and deep sea construction divers circa 1943. On May 14, 1943, the first Seabees reported to Amphibious Training Base Solomons, Maryland, to begin the four-week training course for what would later become the Naval Combat Demolition Units. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

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May 13

1967: One man was killed and seven were wounded following a nighttime mortar and recoilless rifle attack on the NMCB 8 compound located at Chu Lai, RVN.

1968: Due to the augmentation of the Naval Construction Force (NCF) required for the war in Vietnam, Reserve NMCBs 12 and 22 were ordered to active duty at Gulfport, Mississippi, effective this date. This is the first time reserve Seabee units were called to active duty; the last C-130 flight of NMCB 10 personnel departed Quang Tri for CONUS.

1969: Seabee Teams 0705 and 0706 were assigned to the 21st NCR for 18 weeks of specialized training.

1965: A detail of one officer and 74 enlisted men from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 9 arrived at Da Nang to assist the NMCB 3 advance party in construction of the first Seabee camp at Da Nang main compound (Camp Hoover) near Hill 327. The camp was originally programmed for two battalions, but later reduced to one battalion.

1969: NMCB 12 (reserve battalion) was disestablished as an active duty unit and returned to reserve status.

1980: The Operation “New Life” camp reached its peak population of 50,233 on this day, after that the pace gradually slackened as the flow of refugees to the states outran the influx of new refugees. By 26 June the camp population had dropped to 10,138 and Operation “New Life” began to wind down.

Aerial view of the refugee camp at Orote Point, Guam (USA), following the Vietnam War, circa in 1975. Note the outline of the old airfield. (U.S. Navy photo)

About Operation “New Life”, on 29 April 1975 the government of the Republic of Vietnam surrendered to the North Vietnamese as North Vietnamese regulars and Viet Cong closed in on Saigon. Before the surrender, President Gerald Ford ordered a mass evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese from the capital. For the latter who were political refugees, it meant the beginning of a long journey to a “new life” in the United States. In addition to the evacuation by air, many thousands of Vietnamese chose to flee the country in ships, and even small boats. The first stop for many on this journey was Grande Island, located at the entrance of Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines. Here, Seabees, assisted by Marines and civilian employees from the Navy Public Works Center built a tent camp for the refugees. From Grande these refugees moved to the larger camps which had been built on Guam in the Marianas.

View of the refugee camp at Orote Point, Guam (USA), following the Vietnam War, circa in 1975. (U.S. Navy photo)

On 23 April 1975 the 30th Naval Construction Regiment directed all Seabees on Guam to halt their normal construction projects and mount an around-the-clock effort to prepare facilities to house the approximately 50,000 refugees who were even then fleeing South Vietnam. Seabees first rehabilitated the abandoned Naval Hospital Annex at Asan Point. The Seabees worked around the clock and by Friday, 25 April, the camp received the first arriving refugees and quickly filled to its 10,000-person capacity. On 24 April Seabees began construction of a huge, 50,000 person tent camp at Orote Point. This was a monumental undertaking as it involved clearing the jungle from more than 50 acres of land. Once again, the Seabees worked 24-hours a day and the camp received its first refugees on 26 April. Not only did construction ratings work, but the battalions also pressed their support personnel into action. Supply clerks, mess cooks, and yeoman all pitched in and worked around the clock to get the job done. Construction continued and in about a week, Seabees erected 2,000 tents with no end in sight. Support utilities were also provided: messing facilities and kitchens, thousands of feet of water mains to supply showers and washing facilities, as well as the necessary sanitary facilities.

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May 15

1944: ACORN 23 dissolved and absorbed into Naval Air Base, Ebeye (Kwajalein Atoll). (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1968:The last flight of NMCB 11’s 16-flight airlift to Vietnam was marred by disaster. The flight crashed on landing at Quang Tri airstrip. Seven passengers were injured and immediately flown by Medevac helicopters to the hospital ship, USS Sanctuary, cruising off the coast of Vietnam. The left wing was torn from the plane on impact and strewn ablaze for several hundred yards from the plane. Fires broke out within the fuselage of the plane, and one of the remaining engines burst into flames. While the crash trucks were rushing to the scene, Seabees poured out of the rear hatches carrying the injured with them. The battalion’s dentist, Lt. Conley T. Snidow, who was accompanying the troops, administered first aid on the scene.

1968: The second increment of NMCB 1’s advance party of 48 personnel deployed via one C-141 aircraft from Davisville, Rhode Island to Da Nang, RVN.

1969:NMCB 121’s Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Gustave Pappas was wounded by a grenade thrown into the back of an ambulance during a civic action visit to the village of Phu Long, RVN.
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1970:Seabee Team 0313 returned to the continental United States (CONUS) via government aircraft.
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May 19

1968: A rocket attack began at 1930 (7:30 p.m.) on NMCB 4’s almost completed camp site at Camp Evans, RVN. One rocket hit the ammunition supply point (ASP). Fires and explosions spread destruction to the major ASP area and fuel farm. Debris from the exploding shells and rockets caused moderate damage to five berthing huts, and Alpha Company shops and repair parts buildings. Explosions continued into the morning of the 20th, but with no Seabee casualties.

On May 7, 1965, the Seabees of NMCB 10 landed at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam, in support of the III Marine Amphibious Force. This landing marked the first full scale battalion to deploy to Vietnam. After landing, the Seabees began working on the Chu Lai airfield, and establishing a fully operational camp. By 30 May, 3,500 feet of runway were completed, the Marine Air Base Squadron had installed arresting gear and tower facilities, and the field was operational. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

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During May

1977: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 performed recovery and reconstruction work of all types on Guam in the wake of Typhoon “Pamela.”

May 7

1943: 94th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) formation authorized.

1946:146th NCB inactivated on Okinawa.

1965: Assisted by Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 manning pontoon causeways, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 10 landed on the beaches at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), together with U.S. Marine units. The landing was the first deployment of a full Seabee battalion to Vietnam. NMCB 10 commenced construction of the Chu Lai expeditionary airfield and advance base.

On May 7, 1965, the Seabees of NMCB 10 landed at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam, in support of the III Marine Amphibious Force. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1971:Construction Battalion Unit (CBU) 201 received the Navy Unit Commendation for meritorious service from June 1966 to March 1971 for providing construction support to Operation Deep Freeze in the Antarctic. The award was presented at the unit’s disestablishment ceremony held at Davisville, Rhode Island. At the time, Lt. John E. Perry, Jr., the officer in charge, accepted the award on behalf of the officers and men who had served with the unit.

A page from the ASA and CBU 201 Operation Deep Freeze ’70 deployment “cruise” book. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1971: Seabee Team 0107 departed Tan An, RVN.

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May 8

1967:A detachment of Seabees from NMCB 4 was assigned the task of building underground bunkers, defensive positions, and galley and storage facilities for a United States Army Special Forces unit at Con Thien, RVN. Con Thien was located approximately two kilometers south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). At first, the Seabees conducted their construction work on a nearly normal daily routine and were able to complete the initial portion of their projects without harassment. On May 8, however, Con Thien came under attack by an estimated two reinforced North Vietnamese Army battalions. The enemy fired an estimated 600 to 1,000 rounds of mortar at the camp. The assault on the camp was successfully repelled by Seabee, Marine, and Special Forces personnel. After the attack, the Seabees returned to their construction work, but the camp continued to be harassed by enemy mortar and small artillery fire. From the time of the first attack to the time the entire detachment of 25 Seabees was evacuated on May 13, eleven of the Seabees had been wounded. The construction work for the Special Forces camp was later completed by another detachment of Seabees from the same battalion.

1967: Utilitiesman 1st Class Lloyd O’Banion was awarded a Silver Star for his actions during an attack at Con Thien, RVN.

1967: 138 enlisted men and four officers of the NMCB 3 advance party arrived on board at Gia Le Combat Base, RVN.

1968:Arrival of first flight of NMCB 11 at Quang Tri, RVN.

2009: NMCB 5 was deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan supporting the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and was one of the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command war fighting support elements providing host nation construction support and security.

On 8 May 2009, A Seabee assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5 leveled the sandy roads at Camp Natasha. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

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May 9

1969:Seabees of NMCB 40 came under 122mm rocket attack at Camp Campbell, Phu Bai, RVN. Although this was the battalion’s third Vietnam deployment, it was the first time their camp had received fire. As a result of this attack, two Seabees were hospitalized and 13 Seabees were treated and returned to duty.

1969: NMCB 40 Phu Bai asphalt plant and fire truck personnel assisted in rescuing two pilots from an Air Force O-2 aircraft, which crashed near the plant.

1969: NMCB 3 base camp nine miles southeast of Hue, RVN received about five rounds of enemy 122 mm rocket fire. Seabee casualties were light with no fatalities and light damage to the camp.

May 10

1944:ACORN 22 dissolved and absorbed into Naval Air Base, Eniwetok. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

Seabees attend a memorial service in Fallujah, Iraq, on May 15, 2004, honoring seven Seabees from NMCB 14 who died as a result of hostile fire in the Al Anbar Province on April 30 and May 2. (Photo by PH2 Eric Powell)

2004: A mortar attack at Camp Ramadi, Al-Ramadi, Al Anbar Province, Iraq killed five members of NMCB 14, one U.S. Army soldier, and wounded 28 other personnel. This represented the deadliest day for the Seabees since the Vietnam War.

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May 3

May 4

1944: ACORN 20 dissolved, incorporated into Naval Air Base Majuro; ACORN 21 dissolved and absorbed into Naval Air Base, Roi. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1967:Seabee Team 1109 arrived on site at Chiang Kham, Changwat Chiang Rai, North Thailand, to relieve Seabee Team 0909.

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May 5

1945: Seabees of the 30th NCR completed the last runway of the four-field B-29 airdrome on Tinian in the Mariana Islands from which B-29 “Superfortresses” airplanes mounted the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August 1945.

1969: Seabee Team 0410 moved from the Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Port Hueneme, California, where they were in training, to Vietnam beginning their eight-month deployment. The team arrived in Saigon on May 5, 1969.

1970:Seabee Team 0414 with Officer in Charge Lt. j.g. K. Vogel departed CBC Port Hueneme, California for Saigon, RVN for training and indoctrination before proceeding to their final deployment site in Cao Lanh, RVN.

Rear Adm. Eugene J. Peltier, who served as Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and Chief of the Civil Engineer Corps from December 1957 to February 1962, and led the complete reorganization of the Bureau to meet the demands of the space age. On April 28, 1961, NMCB 9 was chosen to receive the first Peltier Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding Seabee battalion. The Society of American Military Engineers presents the award, in association with the Navy. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1991: Following the Iraqi defeat, the Kurdish minority living in northwestern Iraq rebelled in an attempt to win independence. The Iraqi government responded harshly and a gigantic refugee problem developed as hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled their villages into the mountains. The United Nations intervened to protect the Kurds and an Allied-occupied, protected enclave was established around Zakho, Iraq. A relief operation, Operation “Provide Comfort,” was launched to provide facilities for the refugees until they could return to their villages.

On 11 April, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133, deployed at Rota, Spain, was ordered to send its Air Detachment to Zakho. This was followed on April 22 with orders for the battalion to recall all its details and to redeploy its main body to Zakho. While in Iraq, NMCB 133 was under the tactical command of the U.S. Army 18th Construction Brigade, consisting of the U.S. Army 94th Heavy Engineer Battalion, a British Army engineer squadron, a Dutch engineer battalion, and several smaller U.S. Army logistical units. NMCB 133’s camp was established in a walled compound which was also the headquarters of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 18th Engineer Brigade. The Seabees were immediately over-tasked and went to a 12-hour day schedule, providing support to the refugee camps in the area. Work consisted of latrine construction, electrical and water-well support, road grading, forklift support, berm construction, and wash-rack construction. In general, the work could best be described as emergency service relief work.

Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 (NMCB-133) gather near an M-151 light utility vehicle after arriving in Iraq for Operation Provide Comfort, a multinational effort to aid Kurdish refugees in southern Turkey and northern Iraq. The Seabees were dispatched to Iraq from their base at U.S. Naval Station, Rota, Spain.

It was originally anticipated that the Seabees would remain at Zakho for three months. It turned out, however, that they were able to leave after only eight weeks because during that period upwards of 300,000 Kurds were convinced that it was safe to return to their homes. The displaced persons camps near Zakho which had held as many as 60,000 Kurds at the midpoint of the deployment, saw this number drop to less than 15,000 by the time NMCB 133 departed.

April 24

1945: The 69th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) was the only full battalion assigned to Germany during the Second World War. On April 6, 1945 the first echelon of the 69th NCB left London, England for Ostend, Belgium, where they docked on April 7. The next day the men and equipment left Ostend as part of a convoy, crossed Belgium and part of Holland, and then crossed the Mass River near Venlo, Holland. The Seabees moved to Verden, Germany on April 24, and after the fall of Bremen on April 27 they proceeded to that city. It was here that the first echelon was joined by the rest of the battalion. After setting up camp at Lettow-Vorbeck-Kaserne, a few miles outside of Bremen, the Seabees immediately set to work re-roofing buildings where artillery had made huge gaps, installing plumbing and lighting, setting up shops and offices, and installing and repairing power lines. Seabees from the battalion repaired harbor facilities at the nearby port of Bremerhaven.

A page from The 69th Naval Construction Battalion’s cruisebook. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1968: NMCB 9’s advance party, consisting of one officer and 35 enlisted personnel, returned to Naval Air Station (NAS), Point Mugu, California on C-118 aircraft from Da Nang, RVN.

1970: Seabee Team 0413 arrived at their deployment site on Kusai Island, Ponape District, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI).

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April 25

1945: ACORN 46 decommissioned and Naval Air Base Marpi Field, Saipan commissioned. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1946: 93rd NCB inactivated at Samar, Philippines.

1965: As NMCB 10 prepared to mount out from Okinawa for the RVN, planning groups of two officers and three enlisted men from NMCB 9, and three officers and three enlisted men from NMCB 3, arrived at Danang to perform preliminary engineering and material procurement for Seabee projects then being programmed and scheduled for I Corps (ICTZ), Vietnam.

April 27

1969:Disaster strikes area in and around ammunition supply point (ASP) 1, Da Nang when it erupted, as if it was a volcano. This was the largest ASP in I Corps area. NMCB 4 provided firefighting detail to assist NMCB 5. NMCB 5’s Camp Hoover was adjacent to the huge ASP. NMCB 5’s Camp Hoover was 90 percent destroyed; however, only two Seabees were wounded due to the immediate action taken during the initial explosions.

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April 28

1961:NMCB 9 was chosen to receive the first Peltier Award. Named in honor of Rear Admiral Eugene J. Peltier, a former Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, the award is given annually to the most outstanding Seabee battalion. The Society of American Military Engineers presented the award, in association with the United States Navy.

1967:NMCB 11, the first battalion to be deployed to the Northern I Corps, commenced arriving at the Dong Ha Forward Combat Base, RVN.

Master Chief Glen Mummert shows Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Joe R. Campa Jr. the various locations Navy Seabees assigned to the Naval Support Unit State Department, established in April 1966, are deployed around the world on a map at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C, March 14, 2008. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jennifer A. Villalovos)

April 15

1944: ACORN 14 dissolved and was absorbed into Naval Air Base, Hawkins Field, Tarawa; ACORN 17 dissolved and was absorbed into Naval Air Base, Mullinix Field, Tarawa; ACORN 16 dissolved and was absorbed into Naval Air Base, Apamama.

1946: 1st Special NCB inactivated at Kyushu, Japan.

1952: NMCB 9 activated.

1954: Monday, April 15, 1954, was a banner day for the Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme, California. On this day, the first permanent buildings ever constructed on the Center were completed and dedicated. The barracks were named Thomas Barracks in honor of the late Capt. Robert E. Thomas, CEC. He served 26 years in the Navy and was the first Director of the Pacific Division of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, the predecessor of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific. In January 1943, he died in a plane crash near San Francisco. Mrs. Robert E. Thomas, along with her son, Cmdr. Robert E. Thomas, Jr., CEC, unveiled the commemorative plaque in honor of her husband.

April 17

April 18

1972: The last Seabee Team site in Vietnam was closed down by Seabee Team 0321. The team’s employment at Ham Tan, Binh Tuy Province was shortened to four months by an accelerated phasedown schedule.

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April 20

1946:301st Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) inactivated on Guam.

1970: NMCB 3 advance party returned to the continental United States (CONUS) via commercial aircraft.

1971: NMCB 5 formally relieved NMCB 74 in Vietnam.

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April 21

1945:ACORN 50 was decommissioned and Naval Air Base Kobler was commissioned. Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.

1966:A Naval Support Unit of Seabees was established in the Department of State. This assignment came about in 1964, because cleverly concealed microphones and listening devices were discovered in the United States embassy in Moscow. As a result of this discovery, Seabees were sent to the newly built U.S. embassy in Warsaw. They proceeded to tear up floors and walls, and there too discovered ingeniously hidden microphones and listening devices. Consequently, the Department of State decided to use Seabees to keep an eye on foreign contract construction at American diplomatic missions in Soviet-bloc countries and also to perform maintenance duties and minor repair construction. The program was later extended to American diplomatic missions in the Far East and in Africa. These informal arrangements were made more permanent with the organization of the Department of State Naval Support Unit.

Replica of the Great Seal which contained a Soviet bugging device, on display at the NSA’s National Cryptologic Museum. Via Wikipedia

Replica of the Great Seal which contained a Soviet bugging device concealed inside a gift given by the Soviets to the US Ambassador to Moscow on August 4, 1945 on display at the National Cryptologic Museum in 2005. Via Wikipedia

USS Marvin Shields (DE-1066) was commissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington on April 10, 1971. The destroyer escort was named in tribute of Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin Shields, a member of Seabee Team 1104. Shields was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his personal valor during combat action in the Battle of Dong Xoai in Vietnam. This Medal of Honor was the first ever awarded to a Seabee and the first awarded to a United States Navy man in the Vietnam War. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

During the 1980s

The Seabees provided support for the Fleet Hospital program. These Fleet Hospitals were rapidly deployable systems of expandable shelters, pre- positioned worldwide, and assembled/erected by Seabees. Of the 23 hospitals required, 8 would be built and supported by active-duty Seabees, eight by Reserve Seabees, and the remainder programmed for future years. The Reserve Naval Construction Force participated in a field test of a partial hospital in Operation “Golden Shield” during 1986. Active-duty Seabees supported a follow-on test and evaluation of a complete 200-bed hospital in April and May 1987.

April 10

1963: During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Equipment Operator (Construction Equipment) 3rd Class George J. Denich, Jr., a 21-year old Reserve Seabee assigned to Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 7 as a heavy equipment operator, was killed in an accident on a 280-foot hill at Guantanamo Bay. When the accident occurred, Denich was operating a mobile crane in the construction of fortified defensive positions for Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. On June 26, 1963, a memorial plaque was placed on the hill, which was then named Denich Hill in honor of the dead Seabee.

1967:Seabee Team 0808 departed for Port Hueneme, California, for training and eventual deployment to Thailand.

1967: NMCB 71 arrived at Chu Lai, RVN.

1968: NMCB 71’s commanding officer took command of Camp Miller, RVN.

1970: Seabee Team 0312 returned to CONUS (continental U.S.) via government aircraft.

1971: The USS Marvin Shields (DE-1066) was commissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. The destroyer escort was named in tribute of Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin Shields, a member of Seabee Team 1104. Shields was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his personal valor during combat action in the Battle of Dong Xoai in Vietnam. This Medal of Honor was the first ever awarded to a Seabee and the first awarded to a United States Navy man in the Vietnam War.

2003: Seabees cross the Diyala River into Baghdad, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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April 11

1943: ACORN 5 arrived at Espiritu Santo. (An Acorn was a “tailored” unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each Acorn had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each Acorn to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the World War II, Acorns sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1967:NMCB 9 main body, consisting of 716 personnel, returned to CONUS on 10 C-141 aircraft. Seven flights terminated at Naval Air Station, Point Mugu, California, one flight at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, and two flights at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey.

1969:Three members of Seabee Team 0604 were ambushed at a project site in Long An Province, RVN. The Seabees came under rocket, grenade, automatic and small arms fire. They were able to radio for help, however, and the enemy forces were routed by helicopter gunship fire and ground troop support. One Seabee, Construction Mechanic 2nd Class Peter L. Stith, was wounded. He was evacuated by gunship but died before reaching the hospital.

April 12

April 13

1945:Seabees of the 130th NCB on Okinawa started building a two-lane road from the beach to the camp area. It was built in 24 hours. On the third day ashore the Seabees were working around the proverbial clock when antiaircraft fire opened up, pausing briefly twice daily for fueling and greasing. This system worked very well until the night the enemy aircraft came in and strafed Kadena without the usual formality of the anti-aircraft batteries going into action. After this incident, the ‘Bees sweated out air raids, sometimes five or six a night, under their tractors and prayed for cloudy weather. After about a week of these ideal conditions, prayers for cloudy weather were answered and there was no dust for several weeks. Clay became a thick gooey mud which a carryall could load but could not dump. Coral turned from solid to liquid. But in spite of the 16-inches of rain that fell, the Seabees built a four-lane traffic circle and kept traffic moving through it at an average of 900 vehicles per hour.

1969:Seabee Teams 0310 and 0311 returned to CONUS via government aircraft.

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April 14

1945: 55th NCB inactivated at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, California.

1969: Fire destroyed the headquarters building of the 21st NCR at Davisville, Rhode Island. In addition to firemen, about 300 Seabees courageously manned fire hoses in a vain attempt to save the structure. During the fire, Seabees rescued important property from the building. There were no serious injuries, but many of the Seabees and firemen suffered from smoke inhalation.

1969: Team 0913 completed reconstruction of a defensive berm around Fire Base Diamond III in response to an emergency request. Five hours later, the fire base came under intensive attack with 198 enemy killed in action, 18 U.S. killed in action, and 13 Americans wounded. The defensive berm was credited with saving numerous lives and possibly preventing overrunning of the fire base.

1970: Seabee Team 0413 with Officer in Charge Lt. j.g. W.R. Riggs, CEC, departed Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme, California, for training and indoctrination on Guam before proceeding to their final deployment site.

On April 6, 1968, the Hill 494 Quarry Cantonment and Rock Production was dedicated as Camp DeShurley in honor of mortar crew leader Builder (Light) 3rd Class George R. DeShurley and the five other Seabees of Detail Echo, who killed in action in the defense of the facility on the morning of March 31 at Phu Loc, Republic of Vietnam. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

April 1

1945: One of the largest Seabee stevedore assault operations in the Second World War was handled by 11th Special NCB at the invasion of Okinawa. The assignment began in February 1945 when the battalion was joined by two base companies of untrained personnel. Indoctrination of these recruits in the Seabee stevedore tradition, “keep the hook moving,” was started immediately. The big battalion was split into two divisions of nine nine-man teams each. The divisions separated, each going to a different staging area where the 18 teams were assigned to 18 different assault ships. Once at the staging area, each team loaded its assigned vessel and then rode that vessel to Okinawa. When the ships arrived off the coast of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, they were spread the entire length of the northern beaches. These were the beaches hit by the Third Amphibious Marines. Once landed, the Seabees unloaded on a 24-hour basis. Unloading was performed under extremely hazardous conditions. Enemy air raids persistently hammered at the shipping. Fourteen casualties were suffered by the 11th Special NCB during the early stages of the campaign. On the day after the invasion, April 2, 1945, six cranes, five bulldozers and a number of floodlight trailers were on the beaches as far north as Nago on the still bitterly contested Motobu peninsula. When the discharge of assault cargo was completed, the Seabee stevedores had a lull of about a week before the second echelon of supply ships arrived. However, during this week the men were not idle. They did excavation and construction work, roughed in roads and helped install anti-aircraft emplacements. Despite the week-long pause in stevedoring and the reduction of working time due to air raids, the end of April saw more than 70,000 tons of ammunition, guns, vehicles and supplies safely ashore and in the hands of the swift-moving assault forces.

1968: In the Republic of Vietnam, the Hill 494 Quarry Cantonment and Rock Production was dedicated as Camp DeShurley by Rear Adm. J.V. Bartlett, CEC, commander, 3rd Naval Construction Brigade, and Cmdr. J.A. Wright, CEC, commanding officer of NMCB 9, in honor of mortar crew leader Builder (Light) 3rd Class George R. DeShurley and the five other Seabees of Detail Echo, killed in action in the defense of the facility on the morning of March 31 at Phu Loc.

April 7

1942: Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox announced that the Navy would enlist African-Americans for general service, with open enlistment for messmen and the Seabees. Over 12,500 African-Americans would serve in the Seabees during World War II.

Throughout April

1955: The gymnasium at NCBC, Port Hueneme, California, was dedicated in memory of Rear Adm. Ralph M. Warfield. The ceremonies were attended by high-ranking military leaders and other distinguished guests, including Rear Adm. John R. Perry, chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, and Mrs. Warfield, widow of the late admiral. The dedication was held at the gymnasium with eight companies of Seabees and a large group of civilian employees and military dependents in attendance. Prior to his death from a heart attack in 1939, Warfieldhad a most distinguished naval career.

Apr. 1-18, 2003: Amphibious Construction Battalions 1 and 2 completed construction of an Elevated Causeway System/Modular (ELCAS/M), a 1,400-foot pier, for the first time in a combat operation, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom at Camp Patriot, Kuwait.

March

1993: By the end of March, the Seabees had successfully completed their support of Operation “Restore Hope” and returned to their previous deployment sites or their home ports.

1995: In support of Joint Task Force “Provide Promise,” a 35-person team from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 successfully brought to a close the Navy’s turn at providing public works maintenance and operations functions at the Joint Fleet Hospital in Zagreb, Croatia.

A Seabee operates an earthmover as another Seabee uses a pick axe at one of several sites being worked on at Camp Pleso. (Exact date unknown/National Archives)

1996:NH96 – ES consisted of deploying 46 active-duty personnel from NMCB 7 and 18 reserve personnel from NMCB 14 to El Salvador from January 1996 through March 1996. The detail drilled two water wells, constructed a base camp at La Montana, and constructed a two-room school.

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March 25

1967:Seabee Team 0911 departed the main body at Da Nang, RVN, via C-118 aircraft, for the 31st Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) to commence military and technical training.

1969: Seabee Team 5301 deployed from Davisville, Rhode Island to RVN for assignment to the 30th NCR for duty at Da Nang, RVN.

March 27

1964: On Good Friday, a disastrous earthquake and tidal wave leveled much of the city of Kodiak, Alaska. One day later, Seabee volunteers from Port Hueneme, California, were on the scene working at disaster relief. Over a period of several weeks they restored utilities, provided a dry dock for the heavily damaged fishing fleet and participated in the rehabilitation of the city.

March 28

March 29

March 30

1942:In California, the Oxnard Harbor District formally turned over the Hueneme Harbor to Lt. Gustave G. Werner Jr., CEC. Werner accepted the harbor and adjoining land on behalf of the U.S. Navy. On this site a Seabee support base was built under the name of the U.S. Naval Advance Base Depot. It was the predecessor of the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC), Port Hueneme, California.

1968: NMCB 53 constructed the first Ammi Pontoon Bridge in Vietnam, and became operational on this date.

1970:Seabee Teams 0315 and 0316 returned to the continental United States (CONUS) via government aircraft.

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March 31

1945:ACORNs 7, 12, 25, and 26 decommissioned. (An ACORN was a “tailored” unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the World War II, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

1968:Seabee Team 0912 completed training at the 31st NCR, and deployed to Vietnam via C-118 aircraft.

1968: Detail Echo of NMCB 9 at Hill 494 Quarry Cantonment and Rock Production Facility came under attack at 0225, receiving approximately 25 rounds of mortar fire. Seabee mortar and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) artillery fire was returned. Seven Seabees were wounded including Construction Mechanic (Construction) James F. Galati, who died as a result of his wounds at 1200 en route to Naval Support Activity Hospital, Da Nang. At 0710, the quarry cantonment sustained a second attack, receiving recoilless rifle fire and approximately 10 rounds of mortar fire, two rounds of which impacted within Detail Echo Mortar Position No. 2. Five Seabees were killed and one seriously injured. Killed in action while directing fire against the enemy were Builder (Light) 3rd Class George R. DeShurley, Builder (Light) Constructionman Mark E. Hodel, Builder (Light) 3rd Class Allan L. Mair, Builder (Light) 3rd Class John F. Peek and Builder (Heavy) Constructionman James R. Retzloff Jr. Subsequent investigations of the area from which enemy fire was initiated revealed that four Viet Cong positions were hit by the Seabee mortar crews’ return fire, killing at least nine of the enemy.

Seabees with CBMU 301 fixing a bulldozer’s track near Khe Sanh in 1968. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

March 18

1964: The first men assigned to a Well Drilling Team arrived in Vietnam. Made up of men from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 9, the team was employed in support of two well-drilling programs – one sponsored by the U.S. Army Special Forces and the other sponsored by the United States Operations Mission. In addition to supplying potable water to rural areas of Vietnam, the team trained Vietnamese to perform drilling operations. Before the phase-out of this program, five Well Drilling Teams were sent to Vietnam. The Seabees trained their Vietnamese Army counterparts in drilling techniques. The well drilling ended in December 1965.

1966: The 20th and 21st NCRs were reestablished as part of the United States military buildup for the Vietnam War. The 20th NCR was headquartered at the CBC, Gulfport, Mississippi and the 21st NCR at the CBC, Davisville, Rhode Island. These regiments were tasked with the coordination and administration of the technical and military training of the battalions during their stays at the two centers.

March 19

1942: The Secretary of the Navy authorized officers of the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) to exercise military command over all officers and enlisted men assigned to construction units. Prior to this date, military command of naval personnel was limited to line officers.

March 20

March 21

1942: The first Seabee training camp was commissioned with the official name of United States Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC), Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Virginia. It was named Camp Allen in memory of Capt. Walter H. Allen, who, during the First World War, commanded a Public Works Regiment at Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois.

1981: NMCB 133 was chosen Best of Type in the Atlantic Fleet for fiscal year 1980 for their labors in Diego Garcia. The Kangaroos went on to win the coveted Peltier Award, symbolic of the best Seabee battalion the Naval Construction Force. In a ceremony conducted on May 21, 1981, Captain Herbert H. Lewis, Commanding Officer of NMCB 133, accepted the Peltier Award on behalf of the entire battalion. The winning of the Peltier Award was to be repeated to historical proportions by the battalion during the 1980s.

2003: Seabees cross the line of departure into Iraq with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

March 11

1941: A manufacturing and assembly plant for Quonset huts was established at Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

1945: Many times in the Second World War the Seabees were called on to do odd jobs of an urgent and extemporaneous nature. These jobs were dictated by the demands of combat operations. When the German lines in France were breached, the United States Army asked the Seabees to operate landing craft, pontoon causeways, and rhino ferries to help breach the Rhine River Barrier. The Naval Construction Force (NCF) accepted the challenge on March 11, 1945. The task was assigned to detachments from CBMU 627, 628 and 629. At ports in Normandy, the Seabees loaded their landing craft and pontoons on mammoth trucks and hauled them across France and the German borderlands to the Rhine River. The Rhine’s swift and tricky currents had baffled armies since the time of Julius Caesar. However, the Seabees made the crossing with comparative ease. They first crossed the Rhine at Bad Neuenahr near Remagen. On March 22, Gen. George S. Patton put his armored forces across the Rhine at Oppenheim in a frontal assault which swept away the Germans. The Seabees participated in the operation. In addition, the Seabees built pontoon ferries similar to their famous Rhino ferries to move tanks across the river in pairs. In all, the Seabees operated more than 300 craft as ferry service which shuttled thousands of troops into the heart of Germany.

1968: Seabee Teams 0310 and 0311 were transferred to Commander, 31st NCR for Seabee Team Training prior to deployment to the RVN.

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March 12

1963: The village elder who recruited labor for Seabee Team 0502 in Chau Doc Province in the Republic of Vietnam was assassinated by the Viet Cong and his mutilated body left at the team project site.

Mar. 12-16, 1966:NMCB 1 main body arrived at Da Nang, RVN.

1967: Seabee Team 0805 returned to the continental U.S. from Vietnam for leave before rejoining the battalion.

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March 13

1946: 53rd Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) arrived at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands to take part in Operation Crossroads. Operation Crossroads was the Department of Defense’s first large-scale atomic weapons research testing program. The 53rd NCB built observation towers, piers, communication towers, and general facilities to prepare the site. The battalion dredged the lagoon of Bikini to allow ships to enter and anchor for the bomb blast. It also built a recreational area for the members of the Armed Forces engaged in the testing. Thus, Seabees were used to build a facility that helped to usher in the Atomic Age.

1972: Seabee Team 0415, under Lt. C.D. Christopher, departed Palau and returned to Port Hueneme four days later.

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March 14

1966:Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 arrived in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), the first Atlantic battalion to take part in the war, deployed by direct airlift from Davisville, Rhode Island to Da Nang, which was now standard transportation for incoming and outgoing Seabee battalions. Its primary tasks during this tour of duty were the construction of the Camp Haskins complex for the 30th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) headquarters (later to also house the 3rd Naval Construction Brigade with its transfer to Da Nang from Saigon in August 1967), a Seabee battalion camp, and a cantonment for the Force Logistic Support Group. In addition, detachments constructed a light antiaircraft Hawk missile installation and installed three large concrete box culverts at Chu Lai.

2008: A renaming ceremony was held March 14 2008 to unveil Seabee Betty Drive, the main street transiting Camp Covington on Naval Base Guam, in honor of the late Vicenta Chargualaf Peredo, affectionately known as “Seabee Betty.” Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5 Seabees, officers, family and friends were on hand to recognize and honor the many acts of kindness Peredo provided to deployed Seabees over the years resulting in strengthening bonds between military members and the local community.

A renaming ceremony was held to unveil Seabee Betty Drive in honor of the late Vicenta Chargualaf Peredo. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

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March 15

1945:ACORN 27 decommissioned. (An ACORN was a “tailored” unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the World War II, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.) Also on this date, the 147th NCB was commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.

March 16

1968: Seabee Team 5802 deployed to a new employment site at Soc Trang, RVN.

1970: Seabee Teams 0103 and 0104 arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island from Vietnam for reassignment to NMCB 1; NMCB 5 main body departed the continental United States (CONUS) by air for Camp Haskins North, Da Nang, RVN.

As part of an open house held to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Civil Engineer Corps and 25th Birthday of the Seabees in 1967, the 31st Naval Construction Regiment created a model Vietnamese Village at Port Hueneme, Calif. The program for the open house on March 4 featured a simulated Viet Cong attack on the village, a concert by the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Band, and a drill team exhibition by Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

March 4

1911:All Navy public works construction was placed under the Bureau of Yards and Docks by an act of Congress.

1967: NMCB 71’s advance party consisting of 7 officers and 102 enlisted men was airlifted on two C-141 aircraft from Davisville, Rhode Island, to Chu Lai, RVN.

On December 28, 1941, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks (BUDOCKS), requested specific authority to activate, organize, and man a unique, very special organization that would support the Navy and Marines in remote locations and defend themselves if attacked — the Naval Construction Battalions. On January 5, 1942, he was given that authority and the original Battalions were formed at a new Naval base in Davisville, Rhode Island.

The first naval construction unit to actually deploy from the United States left Davisville, Rhode Island, less than two weeks later on January 17, 1942. It was designated the First Construction Detachment. The 296 men arrived at Bora Bora on February 17, 1942.

On March 5, all Construction Battalion personnel were officially named Seabees by the Navy Department. Admiral Moreell personally furnished them with their motto Construmus Batumius, or We Build, We Fight. A logo, the Fighting Bee, was created by a Rhode Islander at Davisville.

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March 5

1942:The designation of construction battalions as Seabees and the use of the distinctive insignia on major items of construction equipment were officially approved by Rear Adm. Ben Moreell.

1955:It was in 1955 that the Seabees first celebrated their birthday on March 5. Before that the birthday had been celebrated on December 28, the date in 1941 that authority was requested from the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation to recruit enlisted personnel for the Seabee units. However, because so many men were usually on leave for the Christmas holidays and because of the heavy financial strain that attended the holidays, it was almost impossible for everyone to participate in a suitable celebration. Therefore, Rear Adm. John R. Perry, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, decided to change the celebration date to March 5, the date the personnel of the construction battalions were granted official permission to assume the name Seabees. Rear Adm. Perry felt this would assure a more favorable observance of the birthday.

1968: NMCB 6 officers and men celebrated the 101st birthday of the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) and the 26th of the Seabees with the cutting of a 1,300 pound birthday cake, measuring four feet by eight feet by two feet.

1950: A detachment of 105th NCB arrived in the Caribbean for a practice invasion. The occasion was marred by squalls and heavy surf conditions, making the battalion’s job of invading the beach and setting up pontoon causeways doubly hard. The battalions had to make three tries for the beach before their task, to put ashore the Army’s Third Division, was accomplished.

1951:NMCB 4 commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia.

1971:Seabees of NMCB 40’s advance party waded ashore at the remote atoll of Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The Seabees were there to begin the highly-significant undertaking of building a Navy Communications Station. Up to this time, Diego Garcia had been a relatively unknown tropical atoll whose only industry was copra. Commissioning ceremonies for the Naval Communications Station, Diego Garcia, were conducted two years later on March 20, 1973.

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March 10

1920: Public Works Officers were first assigned to each of the naval districts.

1968: BUH3 Frank G. Goelz, USN, was killed in an accidental fall while engaged in constructing a pile bent as part of repairs to Liberty Bridge, Da Nang, RVN. Memorial services for Petty Officer Goelz were held at Camp Hoover on March 11 and at Liberty Bridge on March 12.

1968: Detail Charlie of Construction Battalion Mobile Unit (CBMU) 301 was working at the Navy-Marine camp at Cua Viet, RVN, when the camp was attacked by enemy rockets, mortars and artillery. During the attack, one of the incoming rounds detonated ammunition and gasoline stores located on the landing ramp at the river. The resulting explosions caused a fire which burned for 14 hours. Most of the damage to the camp was caused by concussion although shrapnel fell everywhere. When the attack was over, the men of Detail Charlie worked to control the fire. After that they restored the electrical and water supply systems in the camp. The following day, March 11, an ordnance disposal crew picked up approximately 10 tons of live ammunition in the camp area. 33 men of the unit’s man body at Dong Ha were sent to Cua Viet to work with the 16 men of Detail Charlie in the restoration work. Within a week the Seabees had the buildings and facilities restored and the ramp was again handling logistic materials.

1972:Seabee Team 0416, under Lt.j.g. R.A. Heisler, departed Kusaie, RVN, and arrived in Port Hueneme, California, on March 17, 1972.

William P.S. Sanger served the U.S. Navy for over half a century as both a civilian and an officer. As the first commissioned Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officer, and the first civil engineer for the Bureau of Navy Yards and Docks (BuDocks), Sanger witnessed the transformation of the role and importance of civil engineers and the Navy shore establishment.[i]

Unfortunately, little is known of the early years of Sanger’s life. On May 26, 1810, William was born to Samuel Sanger and Mary Hart of Ward 10 in Boston, Massachusetts. Samuel was the son of a seafarer, Capt. Samuel Sanger Sr., and served as the city health commissioner for Ward 10.[ii] William presumably continued to live with his parents during this time, possibly assisting his father with his work.[iii]

On May 24, 1824, days before Sanger’s 14th birthday, Massachusetts Sen. James Lloyd submitted a resolution requesting that the Secretary of the Navy provide information to the Senate “relative to the expediency of constructing, at one of the navy yards of the United States, a dry dock … and to report on the usefulness, economy, and necessity, of a dry dock; the best location therefore, and the probable expense of construction of such dry dock. …”[iv] The resolution was agreed upon by the Senate. Navy Secretary Samuel L. Southard responded in January 1825 and recommended construction of two dry docks, one at Charlestown (Boston), Massachusetts, and the other at Gosport (Norfolk), Virginia, at an estimated cost of $700,000, as calculated by Colonel Loammi Baldwin.[v]

Plans for the dry docks materialized in 1826. On May 8, 1826, Congress resolved that President John Quincy Adams task engineers to examine and survey sites for dry docks at the navy yards of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Charlestown, Massachusetts, Brooklyn, New York, and Gosport, Virginia. On July 26, the Navy Department appointed Baldwin to conduct the necessary surveys.[vi] He submitted his examinations and surveys to the Navy on Dec. 28, 1826, and Southard thereafter recommended to Adams that, funds permitting, the docks be constructed in order of descending priority at Charlestown, Gosport, Brooklyn and Portsmouth.[vii] After reviewing Baldwin’s work and the Navy’s assessment, on March 3, 1827, Congress authorized the president to construct dry docks at Charlestown and Gosport.[viii]

After Congressional approval, the Navy swiftly requested and secured Baldwin’s agreement to serve as the superintendent engineer for the dry docks’ construction in March 1827.[ix] At some point from spring to summer 1827, the 17-year old Sanger entered into an apprenticeship with Baldwin, the exact circumstances of which remain hazy.[x] Samuel Sanger’s work as a health commissioner may have positioned him to contact Baldwin, either directly or through a mutual acquaintance, to try and find William a suitable profession. Civil engineering in the early 19th century followed a pattern established in Europe. There were no formal academic programs in the United States in the 1820s. The first civil engineering degrees were awarded by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but not until 1835.[xi] Sanger would have paid a premium, approximately $200 a year for two years of apprenticeship, while collecting some compensation from field work.[xii] In addition to having available financial resources, Sanger clearly demonstrated education and aptitude worthy of Baldwin’s stature to accept him as an apprentice. In 1826, he graduated from English High School in Boston, being named a Franklin Medal Scholar for meritorious scholarship for finishing at or near the top of his senior class.[xiii] In regards to the timing of the apprenticeship, in July 1827 Baldwin wrote to William Strickland, an accomplished Philadelphia architect, and inquired about “the terms upon which young men are taken as pupils in the profession of Engineers.”[xiv] Perhaps Baldwin needed advice in the apprenticing of Sanger, but this is only conjecture.

Construction of the dry dock at Charlestown began in June. Capt. Alexander Parris, a talented architect-engineer from Massachusetts, served as the Charlestown project’s assistant superintendent, accompanying Baldwin on his surveys and inspections of the work.[xv] Parris’ association with the Charlestown Navy Yard dated back to the spring of 1824, when he prepared plans for a wall at the yard paralleling the Salem Turnpike.[xvi] With work underway in Charlestown, on September 8, 1827 Baldwin wrote Tobias Watkins, the fourth auditor of the U.S. Treasury, regarding his finances. The engineer noted that additional commitments requested by the Navy Board of Commissioners for surveying and drawing of plans obliged him “to employ others to assist in this department. …”[xvii] When work in Gosport began in November, Sanger served as Baldwin’s resident engineer.[xviii] It is thus postulated that Sanger began his civil engineer apprenticeship under Baldwin between March and November 1827, with his work centered on Gosport, accompanying Baldwin on occasion. Parris served as Baldwin’s main assistant, and joined the engineer during his visits at both dry docks during the period of their construction.[xix]

Sanger worked under Baldwin until completion of the Gosport dry dock in 1833. He assisted in surveys of the yard and waters before continuing as resident engineer overseeing the actual construction.[xx] Baldwin lost his notebooks recording the work on the dry docks when the steamboat William Penn ran aground on the Delaware River and burned near Philadelphia on March 4, 1834, so exact details of Sanger’s work remain nebulous.[xxi] On June 17, 1833, the dry dock opened to admit the USSDelaware, the first vessel ever to enter an American dry dock. Less than a year later, the dry dock was turned over to the yard’s commandant on March 15, 1834, and was built at a total cost of $974,356.65.[xxii]

The day of careening vessels to repair them ended at Gosport June 17, 1833 when sailors powering a capstan slowly drew the 74-gun Delaware into Drydock 1. Designed by a famed civil engineer, Colonel Loammi Baldwin, the dry dock could then host the nation’s largest ships. Thousands of excited spectators watched as a powerful steam engine pumped the dock dry. (Source: Naval History and Heritage Command)

Following completion of the dry dock, Sanger remained in Norfolk. In the late summer and early fall of 1833, he surveyed the area between Great Bridge in Norfolk County and North Landing in Princess Anne County for the purpose of determining the cost of building a canal for the Virginia Board of Public Works.[xxiii] He wrote to Baldwin in May 1834 regarding leaks in the docks at the Navy Yard, and suggested that his mentor be named the yard’s engineer.[xxiv] Instead, with his apprenticeship complete, Sanger remained at Gosport and became civil engineer for the yard. Serving essentially as a public works officer for the yard’s commandant, Commodore Lewis Warrington, he improved facilities at the yard, oversaw completion of a smithery, iron store, timber sheds, mast shop, boat shop, commandant’s house and assorted other structures.[xxv] On February 20, 1834, Sanger married Martha Webb in Norfolk, Virginia.[xxvi] He continued his work at the yard until July 8, 1836, when the Board of Navy Commissioners employed him as a civil engineer.[xxvii]

The reason for this employment is not entirely clear, but it appears to once more involve Baldwin. In June 1836, Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson wrote Baldwin to request a survey for the practicality of establishing a navy yard either near Great Barn Island, Perth Amboy, or Jersey City in New York and New Jersey. In his report of October 17, 1836, Baldwin remarks that he proceeded “after having obtained the necessary assistants” to survey the ground at the three locations. In a report of July 11, 1836, the Board of Navy Commissioners listed an additional clerk. Sanger, quite possibly, came into employment for the purpose of assisting Baldwin, who would be able to request his services.[xxviii] Whatever the case, Sanger’s employment by the board did not change his work at Gosport, as he continued to hold the position of civil engineer of the yard into 1842.[xxix]

The Establishment of BuDocs

The reorganization of the Navy and the creation of BuDocks would pave the way for Sanger to become the bureau’s first civil engineer. An expanding fleet, with requisite increasing duties, overtasked the Navy commissioners, and in 1839, the House of Representatives charged Navy Secretary James K. Paulding to devise a plan to reorganize the Navy under a bureau system. Paulding proposed a bureau to handle shore facilities, commanded by a line officer, with a staff including a civil engineer.[xxx] On August 31, 1842, President John Tyler signed the subsequent bill reorganizing the Navy into a series of five bureaus, including authorization for a civil engineer in the new Bureau of Navy Yards and Docks [xxxi] (now NAVFAC). Warrington, appointed as the first BuDocks chief, wrote to Sanger on September 7, 1842 and offered him appointment as civil engineer for the bureau. Sanger accepted the offer on the ninth, and on September 15, 1842, officially became the first civil engineer for BuDocks at an annual salary of $2,000.[xxxii]

Sanger’s duties as BuDocks civil engineer in the 1840s kept him busy managing the improvement and expansion of the Navy’s shore facilities. Among his body of work during the decade, he personally inspected the conditions of the yards at Portsmouth, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Gosport, Pensacola and Brooklyn. Commencing in the fall of 1843 and continuing into the next decade, Sanger either directly surveyed, oversaw construction of or reviewed plans for construction of new dry docks in New York and Pensacola, and for the establishment of a new navy yard in Memphis, Tennessee. He traveled to Memphis with a board of officers to select the site and draft a diagram of the future yard. Following this trip, he accompanied another board of officers to examine and report on the advantages of dry docks and floating docks at the harbors of Pensacola and Portsmouth, finishing this work in early 1845. Unfortunately, soil conditions at the New York dry dock and at the Memphis Navy Yard caused delays, cost overruns and headaches for Sanger and BuDocks.[xxxiii] Following Memphis, Sanger took over as chief engineer for construction of the stone dry dock at the New York Navy Yard in March 1845, remaining until February 1846 when he returned to BuDocks.[xxxiv] Problems aside, in 1850 Sanger and civil engineers at navy yards became part of the civil establishment, thereafter classified as civil officers in the federal government.[xxxv]

With the discovery of gold in California, westward expansion necessitated the establishment of a navy yard in the west. Completion of the New York dry dock in 1851 ended one area of concern for Sanger and ensured available dry dock facilities at all seven navy yards. Selection of a naval yard in California thereafter became the principle focus for the BuDocks engineer, notably after Congressional approval for a floating dry dock in that state in March 1851.[xxxvi] In early 1852, Sanger accompanied a naval commission, which traveled to the Golden State to survey and select a site for the new yard. Returning in August, the commission recommended Mare Island, 20 miles from San Francisco, as the desired location.[xxxvii] The Navy purchased the land in March 1853 and the yard began operations the next year.[xxxviii] A sectional floating dry dock, the object of Congress’ initial desire, was completed in 1855.[xxxix] Back east, the unstable soil and erosion issues at the Memphis Navy Yard inhibited further development, and Congress authorized the ceding of the yard and property to the city in 1854.[xl]

The work of Sanger and other civil engineers at the yards began to attract the attention of Navy Secretary James C. Dobbin. In 1853 in his annual report, Dobbin noted discord between sea and civil officers, and commented that he saw “no objection to the assignment of a proper rank to the civil officers of the Navy; not merely as a gratification of pride, but to prevent discord.”[xli] Two years later, he wrote that “After much reflection and attentive observation of the practical working of the present system, I am very favorably inclined to … establishing a distinct corps in the Navy, whose duty shall be confined to hydrography, ordnance, civil engineering, and other scientific duties.”[xlii] Dobbin’s ideas and views, however, did not stir Congress to action.

For the remainder of the decade, Sanger confined his travels to inspections or visits of navy yards along the East Coast. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, the navy yards predominantly expanded existing works, modernized with the introduction of gas light and enhancements in the area of steam propulsion, or repaired existing structures.[xliii] These projects required the services of additional civil engineers, and beginning in the late 1840s, Sanger began to hire men for the yards. By the outbreak of war in April 1861, the Portsmouth, Boston, New York, Norfolk, Pensacola and Mare Island Navy Yards all employed a civil engineer.[xliv] In 1858, Sanger prepared formal regulations defining the duties and responsibilities of the civil engineer at a navy yard as part of the proposed revised Code of Regulations for the Government of the Navy.[xlv]

Initially, the commencement of hostilities placed Sanger and BuDocks in a precarious situation. Prior to the outbreak of war, rebels captured the Pensacola Navy Yard with its floating dry dock on January 12, 1861.[xlvi] Even worse was the fall of the Norfolk Navy Yard in April 1862. On the 20th, Union forces abandoned and hurriedly attempted to destroy what they could at the yard in the face of Confederate forces. Over a thousand cannons, one of the nation’s finest dry docks, tools and facilities to construct and repair large warships fell into Confederate hands. Upon reaching the yard, the rebels found the dry dock undamaged and the scuttled hulls of the USS Merrimack, Germantown, Plymouth and Dolphin. The Merrimack would soon enter the dry dock in May, emerging as the ironclad CSS Virginia.[xlvii] Both yards would be thoroughly destroyed (and the Virginia blown up) by the Confederates on May 10, 1862 following the surrender of Norfolk, with orders to withdraw forces from the coast.[xlviii] In his annual report, BuDocks Chief Commodore Joseph Smith deemed the yards to be in states of ruin, fire having reduced buildings to mere masonry shells.[xlix]

The phoenix of a modern Navy rose from the ashes of Norfolk and Pensacola, one clad in iron. Sanger, however, was initially slow to grasp the technological shift and its impact on the shore establishment. The clash of the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor on March 9, 1862 demonstrated the advantages of this revolutionary class of warship, and henceforth yards had to adapt and transform for this new “iron age.” After the recapture of the ruined yards, from August to October 1862, Sanger served on a board to examine League Island in the Delaware River near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the harbor of New London, Connecticut, and the waters of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, as sites for a new navy yard intended to build and support ironclads. Sanger personally surveyed the three areas, and together with the majority of the board recommended New London, with the minority in favor of League Island.[l] Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles agreed that New London possessed good qualities for a navy yard, “provided it be the intention of Congress to establish another similar to those we now have for the construction of wooden vessels.”[li] Welles rejected the conservative selection of New London and instead chose League Island for its characteristics conducive to ironclads.[lii]

But before ironclad or iron-hulled ships could dominate the waters, the war remained to be won. Repairs at Norfolk commenced in earnest beginning in late 1862, whereas work at Pensacola remained minimal, confined to only those buildings necessary to service vessels of the gulf squadron. Elsewhere the shore establishment expanded to meet exigencies from war, with temporary navy stations established at Ship Island, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Port Royal, South Carolina; Key West, Florida, and Mound City, Illinois.[liii] The latter three stations grew notably during the war as coaling stations and repair bases for the respective naval squadron in the area of operations.[liv] Despite the wartime growth, Welles deemed the nation’s navy yards “of limited area, and wholly insufficient for our present navy.”[lv] He advocated enlargement of the yards at Boston and New York, completion of Mare Island, rebuilding the destroyed yards, and building of a yard at League Island to handle iron and steam-powered vessels in an efficient manner.[lvi]

The First Civil Engineer Corps Officers

Meeting Welles’ expectations would necessitate increased resources. As with most postwar military budgets, fiscal resources shrank and navy yard operations were substantially reduced. Yards needed to be expanded for iron and steam facilities and shops and manage the larger fleet and ironclads.[lvii] All of this required competent civil engineers to manage the technical requirements amidst tight budgets. On February 20, 1867, Congress debated legislation to establish the offices of civil engineer and master mechanic in the navy yards via presidential appointment.[lviii] The intent of the bill was to ensure that the supervisory head of certain navy yard departments remained a trained, competent individual able to appoint or discharge personnel as required. Since line officers began to take command of such departments during the war, this removed men such as Sanger from exercising their supervisory role.[lix] On March 2, 1867, the legislation passed into law providing for Navy civil engineers to be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.[lx]

Commissions came swiftly. Sanger received his as the first officer of the Civil Engineer Corps on March 3rd.[lxi] Weeks later on the 28th, Benjamin F. Chandler, Charles Hastings, Franklin A. Stratton and Wallace M. Spear received commissions as the next members of the CEC.[lxii] On July 15, 1870, civil engineers finally received pay fixed with that of other naval officers.[lxiii] The following year, Sanger and his fellow civil engineers received relative rank with officers of the line and precedence with officers of the line in accordance with their length of service.[lxiv] Unfortunately, the legislation did not clarify exactly how relative rank would be distributed or affixed to Sanger and his fellow CEC officers, at least not for any foreseeable future. The men received the title of “Civil Engineer,” with Sanger’s listed as “Chief Civil Engineer.”[lxv]

Limited appropriations for the naval shore establishment did not curtail the work of BuDocks. In February 1867, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Navy to accept League Island for development as a navy yard, and to dispose of the existing Philadelphia Navy Yard site.[lxvi] Work on this site began in earnest in 1871, and from 1872 to 1873, Sanger presided over a board to shape the future development of the yard.[lxvii] After completing this report, Sanger returned to Mare Island in September 1873 to head a board preparing plans to improve that yard.[lxviii] Elsewhere, the Naval Appropriations Act of 1868 authorized the gift of land from Connecticut for establishment of a naval station at New London, and work commenced in 1869 for what soon became a coaling station.[lxix] After his journey to Mare Island, Sanger apparently remained in Washington to oversee the CEC for BuDocks. A board of civil engineers assembled to plan improvements for the New London naval station in 1875 would be headed up by Chandler, and not Sanger.[lxx]

The year 1881 would leave the chief civil engineer a lasting legacy for the CEC and the Navy. Throughout the latter part of the 1870s, Congressmen had introduced numerous pieces of failed legislation to clarify the issue of relative rank for civil engineers.[lxxi] On February 24, 1881, however, Navy Secretary Nathan Goff Jr. issued General Order No. 263 conferring relative rank by presidential authority on CEC officers, with the relative rank of captain conferred on Sanger.[lxxii] In June, U.S. Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh established that Navy civil engineers were officers belonging to the Navy’s staff corps, entitled to be retired from active duty and placed on the retired list.[lxxiii] Thereafter on July 14, 1881, the Navy Department issued new regulations governing the appointment of civil engineers in the Navy, requiring future candidates to be between the ages of 25 and 37, have pursued civil engineering at a professional institution, and pass a rigorous examination prior to acceptance.[lxxiv] Lastly, on August 23, 1881 the Navy authorized CEC officers to wear the line officers’ uniform, albeit with light-blue velvet inset between the rank stripes on the sleeves and on the shoulder straps, the latter bearing the letters “CE” in Old English script.[lxxv]

With the CEC’s future in the Navy secure, Sanger could at last step away. He retired from the Navy on October 15, 1881, after 54 years of service as a civilian, civil servant and commissioned officer.[lxxvi] He remained in Washington with his second wife, Lucy Martha Darrell, having remarried following the death of his first wife on March 4, 1877.[lxxvii] The Navy’s first civil engineer died on the morning of February 16, 1890, at age 81, and was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., two days later.[lxxviii] Although Sanger remains a somewhat enigmatic figure, his service as a civil engineer for the U.S. Navy contributed to a tremendous expansion and modernization of the naval shore establishment. He began his career as a civilian for the Board of Navy Commissioners and rose to a commissioned officer with the Bureau of Yards and Docks. One can safely state that the foundation of today’s Civil Engineer Corps firmly rests upon Sanger’s lifetime of service, having transformed a civil engineering apprenticeship into an established branch of the Navy’s staff corps.

William P.S. Sanger Chronology

May 26, 1810: Born, Ward 10, Boston, Massachusetts

1826: Graduates from English High School, Boston, Massachusetts; named Franklin Medal Scholar for meritorious scholarship

August – October 1862: Surveys League Island in the Delaware River near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the harbor of New London, Connecticut, and waters of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island as site for new navy yard

Mar. 3. 1867: Commissioned as chief civil engineer in U.S. Navy

September 1872 – March 1873: Heads planning board for improvement of League Island Navy Yard, Pennsylvania

[i] The “Navy” part of the title was dropped in July 1862. See Act toReorganize the Navy Department of the United States, Public Law 134, 37th Cong., 2d sess. (5 July 1862), 510-11.
[ii] “For Sale or to Be Let,” Columbian Centinel (Boston, MA), 26 March 1817, 4; “Married,” Boston Daily Advertiser, 21 April 1817, 2; “Health Commissioners,” Boston Commercial Gazette, 23 May 1822, 2; “Died,” Essex Register (Salem, MA), 9 October 1822, 3; “Notice,” Columbian Centinel, 9 November 1822, 1; “Health Office,” Independent Chronicle and Boston Patriot, 9 August 1823, 4; U.S. Census, 1810: Boston Ward 10, Suffolk, Massachusetts, NARA roll 21, 391; headstone for W.P.S. Sanger, Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, Washington, DC, Chapel Hill section, Lot 533.
[iii] U.S. Census, 1820: Boston Ward 10, Suffolk, Massachusetts, 303; NARA roll M33-53, 151.
[iv] Annals of Congress, 18th Cong., 1st sess., 776-77.
[v] Annals of Congress, 18th Cong., 1st sess., 782; Department of the Navy, Dry Docks, 18th Cong., 2d sess., 1825, Naval Affairs Doc. 252. Baldwin, son of a Revolutionary War colonel, was one of the nation’s preeminent civil engineers in the early nineteenth century. A Massachusetts native, he graduated from Harvard in 1800 and after further study opened a law office in Cambridge, MA in 1804. Law, however, did not suit his interests and Baldwin closed the office in 1807, having instead decided to devote his energies to civil engineering. Following a journey to England to examine various public works, he opened an office in Charlestown, MA and proceeded in 1814 to construct Fort Strong on Noddle’s Island in Boston Harbor. The fort proved a success and thereafter Baldwin’s services found demand in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for the design and supervision of canals and public works projects. He traveled to Europe in 1824 and spent a year examining public works in France and Belgium, notably the docks at Antwerp.This experience aided Baldwin in regards to plans and estimates for a dock at Charlestown, as communicated to Southard in November 1824. See George L. Vose, A Sketch of The Life and Works of Loammi Baldwin, Civil Engineer, Read Before the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, Sept. 16, 1885 (Boston: Geo. H. Ellis, 141 Franklin St., 1885), 6-15; House Committee on Naval Affairs, Docks for Repairing Ships of War, 19th Cong., 1st sess., 1826, H. Doc. 143, 14-23.
[vi] Cong. Deb. 2605-6 (1826); Edward P. Lull, History of the United States Navy-Yard at Gosport, Virginia (Near Norfolk) (Washington, DC: GPO, 1874), 30; “Selected Summary,” Boston Traveler, 15 September 1826, 2.
[vii] House Committee on Naval Affairs, Dry Docks – Portsmouth, N.H., Charlestown, Mass., &c., 19th Cong., 2d sess., 1827, H. Doc. 125, 5-46.
[viii] Lull, Gosport, 30; “We understand that a commission. . . ,” Pittsfield Sun (MA), 24 May 1827, 1.
[ix] Department of the Navy, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 23d Cong., 2d sess., 1835, S. doc. 63, 2-3.
[x] Vose, Sketch, 28. Vose interviewed Sanger in 1885, then 75 years of age, and reported that Sanger “entered Mr. Baldwin’s office in 1827, and was employed upon the dry docks from that date until their completion. . . .” No other records have been located to confirm or deny this date.
[xi] Palmer C. Ricketts, History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1824 – 1934, 3d ed. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1934), 70-81.
[xii] Vose, Sketch, 26.
[xiii] Boston School Committee, Annual Report of the School Committee of the City of Boston, 1875 (Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1876), 324. The Franklin Medal, named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, was an honorary reward awarded annually in the 19th century “to a number of the most meritorious scholars in the highest class of each public school for boys, above the primary grade. See Boston School Committee, The Association of Franklin Medal Scholars (Boston: Geo. C. Rand and Avery, 1858), 2-12.
[xiv] William Strickland to Loammi Baldwin, 22 July 1827, Loammi Baldwin Papers, Box 1, folder 11, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library, Chicago, IL.
[xv] Vose, Sketch, 17-18.
[xvi] Edwin C. Bearss, Historic Resource Study: Charlestown Navy Yard 1800 – 1842, Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1984), 459-60; Helen W. Davis, Edward M. Hatch, and David G. Wright, “Alexander Parris: Innovator in Naval Facility Architecture,” IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Architecture 2, no. 1 (1976): 4-5.
[xvii] Department of the Navy, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 23d Cong., 2d sess., 1835, S. doc. 63, 5.
[xviii] Lull, Gosport, 32.
[xix] Davis, Hatch, and Wright, “Alexander Parris,” 5-6n8; Vose, Sketch, 17-18; Charles B. Stuart, The Naval Drydocks of the United States (New York: Charles B. Norton, 1852), 65. Davis, Hatch, and Wright note that contrary to Stuart, citing Vose, Parris served as Baldwin’s assistant superintendent at both dry dock projects. Sanger, however, traveled with Baldwin as well, having received $102.48 in reimbursement in 1830 “for traveling from Boston to New York with Mr. Baldwin, Engineer, to survey, make plans, &c. and for board while there.” Also listed with Sanger is Benjamin Franklin Perham, another apprentice (age 21) to Baldwin at this time. The autobiography of Calvin Brown, who later served under Sanger as a civil engineer at Norfolk and Mare Island, CA before commissioning as a member of the Civil Engineer Corps, writes that Parris “had been superintendent of the Charlestown dry dock and also of that of Norfolk, Virginia, under the direction of Colonel Loammi Baldwin, the engineer. . . .” Brown later notes how Sanger “was professionally educated in the service of Colonel Loammi Baldwin and was his assistant in the building of the dry dock at that Norfolk Navy Yard.” See Department of the Navy, Pay, &c. of Naval Officers and Agents, 21st Cong., 1st sess., 1830, H. Doc. 121, 49; Vose, Sketch, 26; Calvin Brown, Autobiography (California: 1890 – 1895?), 112, 171, original in possession of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, CA (USNCBM).
[xx] Lull, Gosport, 31-32.
[xxi] Voss, Sketch, 18.
[xxii] Lull, Gosport, 36. The Charlestown dry dock, by comparison, cost $677,089.78. See Schedule of Papers Accompanying Report of the Secretary of the Navy to President of the United States, 24th Cong., 2d sess., 1836, S. Doc. 1/8, 502.
[xxiii] “Report of William P.S. Sanger, Civil Engineer, on the Survey and Plan of the Country Between Great Bridge and North Landing,” in Virginia Board of Public Works, Seventeenth Annual Report of the President and Directors of the Board of Public Works, to the General Assembly of Virginia, January 17, 1833 (Richmond, VA: Samuel Shepherd and Co., 1833), 222-23.
[xxiv] William P.S. Sanger to Loammi Baldwin, 1 May 1834, Personal Papers collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA.
[xxv] Lull, Gosport, 38-39.
[xxvi] No definitive, primary documentation has been located to verify this information. Sanger’s headstone lists Martha as his wife, but without any indication as to the date of marriage. The Bready Family Tree on Ancestry.com lists this date of marriage but without documentation. In the 1840 U.S. Census, Sanger’s household lists two free white women from ages 20 to 29. As Martha was born in 1813, this would make her one of the two (the other remains unknown, but may have been a midwife). See Bready Family Tree, “William P.S. Sanger,” AncestryLibrary.com (accessed 3 February 2014); U.S. Census, 1840: Portsmouth, Norfolk, Virginia, roll 570, 126.
[xxvii] “Chiefs of Bureau of Yards and Docks,” Bureau of Yards and Docks News – Memorandum 4, no. 80 (1 July 1933): 1390
[xxviii] House Committee on Naval Affairs, Navy Yards – Great Barn Island, Perth Amboy, &c., 24th Cong., 2d sess., 1836, 1-2; Office Secretary of the Senate, Report in Compliance with the “Act to Authorize the Appointment of Additional Paymasters, and for other Purposes,” approved July 4, 1836,” 24th Cong., 1st sess., 1836, 6.
[xxix] Lull, Gosport, 38-39. The 1840 U.S. Census also lists Sanger as living in Norfolk and owning two female slaves, possibly as cooks or housekeepers. See U.S. Census, 1840: Portsmouth, Norfolk, Virginia, roll 570, 126.
[xxx] House Committee on Naval Affairs, Reorganization of the Navy Department, 26th Cong., 1st sess., 1839, H. Doc. 39, 1-4.
[xxxi] Act toReorganize the Navy Department of the United States, Public Law 286, 27th Cong., 2d sess., (31 August 1842), 579-81.
[xxxii] Department of the Navy, Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States including Officers of the Marine Corps, Corrected from Authentic Sources, to the 15th September 1842 (Washington, DC: Alexander and Barnard, printers, 1842), iii; excerpts from letters of William P.S. Sanger as transcribed by Helen W. Fairbanks from originals in files of BuDocks, National Archives, unlabeled folder, Record Group (RG) 4, Series III, Box 1, USNCBM; Department of the Navy, Schedule of Papers Accompanying the Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 27th Cong., 3d sess., 1842, H. Doc. 29, 562.
[xxxiii] Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, Report of Secretary of the Navy on Plans and Estimates for Construction of a Permanent Wharf and Dry Dock at Pensacola, 29th Cong., 1st sess., 1844, S. Doc. 134, 1-21; Department of the Navy, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 28th Cong., 1st sess., 1844, S. Doc. 1/6, 522-23; House Committee on Naval Affairs, William P.S. Sanger and George F. De La Roche, 29th Cong., 1st sess., 1846, H. Rep. 367, 1; House Committee on Naval Affairs, A Report of Officers and Engineers Relative to the Properties and Advantages of a Dry Dock, &c., 28th Cong., 2d sess., 1845, H. Doc. 163, 1-79; House of Representatives, Dry Dock at Brooklyn, and Land Between Naval Hospital and Navy Yard, Brooklyn, 30th Cong., 1st sess., 1848, Mis. Doc. 71, 1-8; Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 19 November 1844; report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 14 November 1846; report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 4 November 1848; report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 17 October 1849, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1842 to 1860 (1 of 3),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 2, USNCBM; Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 12 October 1850, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1842 to 1860 (2 of 3),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[xxxiv] Charles B. Stuart, The Naval Dry Docks of the United States (New York: Charles B. Norton, 1852), 9-15, 119.
[xxxv] “History of the Civil Engineer Corps, United States Navy,” undated, 2, folder labeled “RG3 – General, History of the Civil Engineer Corps, United States Navy; Publication, [1950s],” RG3, Series 1, Box 6, USNCBM; Act Making Appropriations for the Naval Service for 1851, Public Law 80, 31st Cong., 1st sess. (28 September 1850), 513-17.
[xxxvi] Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 16 October 1851, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1842 to 1860 (2 of 3),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[xxxvii] “Naval,” Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, DC), 2 September 1852, 3; Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 14 October 1852, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1842 to 1860 (2 of 3),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM. As fate would have it, the same day Sanger and the commission arrived back in Washington, DC, Congress authorized and directed the Secretary of the Navy to select the site for a navy yard and naval depot in and /or around San Francisco Bay. See Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 31 October 1853, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1842 to 1860 (2 of 3),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[xxxviii] Senate, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 33d Cong., 1st sess., 1853, S. Ex. Doc. 1/10, 304; Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 1 November 1854, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1842 to 1860 (2 of 3),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[xxxix] Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 12 October 1855, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1842 to 1860 (2 of 3),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[xl] Stanley K. Adamiak, “A Naval Depot and Dockyard on the Western Waters: The Rise and Fall of the Memphis Naval Yard, 1844 – 1854,” International Journal of Naval History, 1, no. 1 (April 2002): 1-12.
[xli] Senate, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 33d Cong., 1st sess., 1853, Ex. Doc. 1/10, 306.
[xlii] Senate, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 34th Cong., 1st sess., 1855, Ex. Doc. 1, 20-21.
[xliii] This statement is a condensed summary from the Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 1 December 1856; 15 October 1857; 22 November 1858; 1 October 1859; and 22 November 1860, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1842 to 1860 (3 of 3),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[xliv] The exact circumstances as to how Sanger was able to hire additional civil engineers is not entirely known, although it can safely be stated that necessity for supervision of repairs and various projects, combined with budgetary allowances justified the expansion of Navy civilian civil engineers. See Department of the Navy, Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States, including Officers of the Marine Corps and Others, for the Year 1861 (Washington, DC: George W. Bowman, 1861), 98-101.
[xlv] House of Representatives, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 35th Cong, 2d sess., 1858, Ex. Doc. 2, 193-94. Sanger may have drafted the civil engineer portion of the code in 1857, but this is not entirely clear. See also “History of the Civil Engineer Corps, United States Navy,” undated, 2, folder labeled “RG3 – General, History of the Civil Engineer Corps, United States Navy; Publication, [1950s],” RG3, Series 1, Box 6, USNCBM.
[xlvi] Edwin C. Bearss, “Civil War Operations in and Around Pensacola,” Florida Historical Quarterly 36 no. 2 (October 1857): 132-33. The dock itself was later scuttled by the Confederates. See Edwin C. Bearss, “Civil War Operations in and around Pensacola, Part II,” Florida Historical Quarterly 39, no. 3 (January 1961): 248-49.
[xlvii] The loss of the yard at Norfolk with so much usable war material captured would be deemed the “Gosport Affair,” as federal officials sought to determine how the yard’s capture could have been so badly bungled. Many of the captured guns would be put into use across the Confederacy. See John Sherman Long, “The Gosport Affair, 1861,” Journal of Southern History 23, no. 2 (May 1957): 155-72; William N. Still, Jr., “Facilities for the Construction of War Vessels in the Confederacy,” Journal of Southern History 31, no. 3 (August 1965): 299-300; Lull, Gosport, 44-59; Senate Committee on Printing, Circumstances Attending Surrender of Navy Yard at Pensacola, and Destruction of Property at Navy Yard at Norfolk and at Armory at Harper’s Ferry, 37th Cong., 2d sess., 1862, S. Rep. 37, 1-21.
[xlviii] Lull, Gosport, 60-61; Edwin C. Bearss, “Civil War Operations in and Around Pensacola, Part III,” Florida Historical Quarterly 39, no. 4 (April 1961): 338-39, 349-52.
[xlix] Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 4 November 1862, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1861 to 1880 (1 of 4),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[l] “The Secretary of the Navy has appointed…,” Harford Daily Courant (CT), 15 August 1862, 2; Kenneth W. Munden and Henry P. Beers, Guide to Federal Archives Relating to the Civil War (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1962), 479. During this time away from Washington, William J. Keeler represented Sanger as the resident civil engineer at BuDocks. Keeler is listed in the Navy’s Register of Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer Officers from 1862 to January 1863, with date of appointment listed as 9 July 1862. See Department of the Navy, Register of the Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer Officers of the Navy of the United States, including Officers of the Marine Corps and Others, to September 1, 1862 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1862), 9; Department of the Navy, Register of the Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer Officers of the Navy of the United States, including Officers of the Marine Corps and Others, to January 1, 1863 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1863), 9.
[li] House of Representatives, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 37th Cong., 3d sess., 1862, Ex. Doc. 1, 33.
[lii] House of Representatives, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 37th Cong., 3d sess., 1862, Ex. Doc. 1, 33-35; Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, Majority and Minority Reports of Board of Officers to Accept Title to League Island, Delaware River, for Naval Purposes, 37th Cong., 3d sess., 1862, Ex. Doc. 9, 1-29. It must be noted that the city of Philadelphia offered the island to the Navy and Congress authorized the Secretary of the Navy to accept the island if approved by a board of officers on 15 July 1862. The factor of acquiring the island versus purchasing tracts of land in New London factored considerably into Welles’ decision to choose the minority opinion. See also Secretary of the Navy, Reports of the Secretary of the Navy, and the Commission by him Appointed, on the Proposed New Iron Navy Yard at League Island (Philadelphia, PA: Collins, 1863).
[liii] Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 15 October 1864, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1861 to 1880 (2 of 4),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[liv] Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 12 October 1865, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1861 to 1880 (2 of 4),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[lv] House of Representatives, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 39th Cong., 1st sess., 1865, Ex. Doc. 1, xvii.
[lvi] Ibid., xvii-xviii.
[lvii] House of Representatives, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 39th Cong., 2d sess., 1866, Ex. Doc. 1, 24-29.
[lviii] An Act to Establish the Offices of Civil Engineer and of Master Mechanics and Master Laborer in Navy Yards of the United States, HR 1186, 39th Cong., 2d sess. (20 February 1867), 1-2.
[lix] Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 2d sess. 1401-02 (1867).
[lx] Naval Appropriation Act of 1868, Public Law 172, 39th Cong., 2d sess. (2 March 1867), 490.
[lxi] Department of the Navy, Register of the Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer Officers of the Navy of the United States, including Officers of the Marine Corps and Others, to January 1, 1880 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1880), 77.
[lxii] Department of the Navy, Register of the Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer Officers of the Navy of the United States, including Officers of the Marine Corps and Others, to January 1, 1873 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1873), 73.
[lxiii] Naval Appropriation Act of 1871, Public Law 295, 41st Cong., 2d sess. (15 July 1870), 331-32.
[lxiv] Naval Appropriation Act of 1872, Public Law 117, 41st Cong., 3d sess. (3 March 1871), 536-37. Relative rank was a practice from 1871 to 1899 for the early CEC and other Navy staff corps officers whereby a rank relative to that for an officer’s experience, competency, and service was recognized commiserate with an officer of the line, but it was not a permanent rank. A civil engineer held the actual rank and address of “Civil Engineer,” even if possessing the relative rank of lieutenant or commander.
[lxv] Department of the Navy, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Report of the Board of Civil Engineers Appointed to Prepare a Plan for the Improvement of the Navy-Yard at League Island, Pennsylvania (Washington, DC: GPO, 1873), 3.
[lxvi] An Act to Authorize the Secretary of the Navy to Accept League Island, Public Law 46, 39th Cong., 2d sess. (18 February 1867), 396.
[lxvii] Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 27 October 1871; 1 November 1872, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1861 to 1880 (3 of 4),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM; Department of the Navy, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Report of the Board of Civil Engineers Appointed to Prepare a Plan for the Improvement of the Navy-Yard at League Island, Pennsylvania (Washington, DC: GPO, 1873), 6-16.
[lxviii] Department of the Navy, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Report of the Board of Civil Engineers, Appointed to Prepare a Plan for the Improvement of the Navy-Yard at Mare Island, California (Washington, DC: GPO, 1873), 3-22.
[lxix] Naval Appropriation Act of 1868, Public Law 172, 39th Cong., 2d sess. (2 March 1867), 489; House of Representatives, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 41st Cong., 2d sess., 1869, Ex. Doc. 1/4, 19; Report of the Chief, Bureau of Yards and Docks to the Secretary of the Navy, 25 October 1870, folder labeled “Reports: Chiefs Annual Report to SecNav 1861 to 1880 (3 of 4),” RG 16, Series 3, Box 3, USNCBM.
[lxx] Department of the Navy, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Report of the Board of Civil Engineers Appointed to Prepare a Plan for the Improvement of the Naval Station at New London, Connecticut, June 17, 1875 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1875), 3.
[lxxi] See A Bill Fixing the Relative Rank of Civil Engineers in the Navy, HR 4299, 43d Cong., 2d sess. (11 January 1875), 1; A Bill Fixing the Pay and Rank of Civil Engineers in the Navy, S 1074, 43d Cong., 2d sess. (5 January 1875), 1; A Bill Fixing the Rank and Pay of Civil Engineers in the Navy, HR 1164, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (17 January 1876), 1; A Bill Fixing the Relative Rank of Civil Engineers in the United States Navy, HR 5672, 45th Cong., 3d sess. (16 December 1878), 1; A Bill Fixing the Rank of Civil Engineers in the United States Navy, HR 2216, 45th Cong., 2d sess. (14 January 1878), 1; A Bill to Reduce the Number and Fix the Relative Rank of Civil Engineers in the Navy, HR 5917, 45th Cong., 3d sess. (20 January 1879), 1-2; A Bill to Reduce the Number and Fix the Relative Rank of the Civil Engineers of the Navy, S 1730, 45th Cong., 3d sess. (29 January 1879), 1-2.
[lxxii] Department of the Navy, General Order No. 263, 24 February 1881. The order fixed the size of the CEC at ten officers, one with relative rank of captain, two with the relative rank of commander, three with relative rank of lieutenant commander, and four with the relative rank of lieutenant.
[lxxiii] Department of the Navy, General Order No. 274, 1 November 1881. The general order republishes the Attorney General’s reply to an inquiry from Navy Civil Engineer Benjamin F. Chandler, dated 17 June 1881.
[lxxiv] Department of the Navy, “Regulations Governing the Appointment of Civil Engineers in the U.S. Navy,” 14 July 1881.
[lxxv] Lewis B. Combs, “Civil Engineer Corps, U.S. Navy,” The Military Engineer 35, no. 209 (March 1943): 106-07; James C. Tily, “The U.S. Navy CEC Device,” U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps Bulletin 13, no. 1 (January 1959): 3.
[lxxvi] Cong. Rec., 47th Cong., 1st sess., 1882, 13, pt. 6: 6289. Sanger was joined in retirement with Benjamin F. Chandler, Calvin Brown, and Norman Stratton, thereby opening up four new slots in the CEC. See “Civil Engineers in the Navy,” Engineering News, 3 December 1881, 487.
[lxxvii] Bready Family Tree, “William P.S. Sanger,” AncestryLibrary.com (accessed 3 February 2014); U.S. Census, 1880: Georgetown, Washington, District of Columbia, roll 121, family history film 1254121, 233D. Lucy Martha Darrell Sanger would remarry in 1892 to Conrad J. Cooper of Philadelphia. She died on 2 September 1909. See “Marriage Licenses,” Washington Post, 28 September 1892, 7; “Died,” Washington Post, 4 September 1909, 2.
[lxxviii] “Death of a Former Naval Officer,” Washington Post, 17 February 1890, 2.
]]>This Week in Seabee History (February 25 – March 3)http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/02/27/twish-february-18-march-3/
http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/02/27/twish-february-18-march-3/#respondTue, 27 Feb 2018 19:51:22 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=16021Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command

U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps insignia, circa 1905. On March 2, 1867, an act of Congress provided that civil engineers should be appointed by the President, by and with the consent of the Senate. Previously, all civil engineers in the Navy were civilian employees. This is considered the date of establishment for the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Early 1980s

One of the major projects for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and the major project for the Seabees in the 1970s and early 1980s was the construction of a naval complex on the atoll of Diego Garcia, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Diego Garcia, one of the 52 coral atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, was located in the Indian Ocean 960 miles south of India and 7 miles south of the equator. The 6,700 acre, heavily vegetated atoll was horseshoe-shaped with a perimeter of approximately 40 miles and average elevations of 3 to 7 feet. The annual rainfall was approximately 100 inches. In the early 1980s the construction effort at Diego Garcia rapidly shifted from Seabees to private contractors. The last full Seabee battalion, NMCB 62, departed the atoll in July 1982. While Seabees remained in detachments, contractor personnel took over the projects yet to be accomplished on Diego Garcia. Thus, what began as simply a communication station on a remote atoll became a major fleet and U.S. armed forces support base by the 1980s. By 1983 the only Seabee unit remaining on Diego Garcia was a detachment of NMCB 62. The departure of this detachment in September 1983 ended twelve years of priority effort on the island that included some 220 projects for the Navy and Air Force, valued in excess of $200 million. The work the Seabees completed on Diego Garcia since 1971 represented the largest peacetime construction effort in their history.

1942:Advance Base Depot (ABD) Davisville, Rhode Island, is established as a unit of the Naval Operating Base, Rhode Island. This was the first of a total of four advance base depots established during World War II. Camp Thomas, also at Davisville, was established on this day as well.

1972: The Seabee camp on the tiny atoll of Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean was dedicated in memory of a young Seabee who lost his life while assisting in the construction of a communications facility. The Seabee site was named Camp Cummins in honor of Navy Utilities Third Class Charles Stuart Cummins, who died on December 30, 1971, of burns suffered while working on a desalinization barge boiler on the atoll.

1867: By an act of Congress, it was provided that civil engineers should be appointed by the President, by and with the consent of the Senate. Previously, all civil engineers in the Navy were civilian employees. This is considered the birthday for the establishment of the Civil Engineer Corps.

1867: William P.S. Sanger is commissioned as an officer and Chief Civil Engineer of the Navy.

1871: An act of Congress gave the Navy’s civil engineers, at the President’s discretion, eligibility for relative officer rank and equal precedence with officers of the line.

1899: In an amendment to the act passed on this date, Congress abolished relative rank for the members of the Navy’s staff corps granting them regular rank without changing their titles.

1962: The Seabee-installed and serviced PM-3A nuclear power plant at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica went critical. In July the plant began delivering electric power to the McMurdo station thus relieving that station of the dependence on fuel oil shipments and at the same time alleviating the fire hazard caused by the use of oil-burning devices.

Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 301 Seabees working at Khe Sanh in 1968. A small detail of Seabees from CBMU 301 distinguished themselves during the tense siege of Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam. On January 21, 1968, the North Vietnamese commenced concentrated rocket, mortar, and artillery attacks in preparation for their offensive to take the mountain outpost. The runway crews made numerous repairs to the airstrip during the siege while exposed to enemy fire. Between repairs, they quickly learned to take cover whenever aircraft landed because the enemy gunners made a maximum effort to disable planes and helicopters on the ground. The last of the detail returned to base camp on February 19, 1968, and members of the detail were subsequently authorized to wear the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon for assistance rendered to the 26th Marines during the siege of Khe Sanh. (Photos courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1981: When President Ronald W. Reagan became president on February 6, 1980, his ranch, Rancho Del Cielo in Santa Barbara, California, required upgraded security measures. Subsidizing the 31 Naval Construction Regiment, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 was assigned to the ranch upgrades named Project Rimstone. The Seabees built multiple service buildings as well as helicopter landing pad and a heliport. The Seabees of this detail received Presidential letters of Commendation. For Ronald Reagan, the house served as a sanctuary during his presidency.

After the completion of Project Rimstone, the Reagan’s hosted a barbecue for the Seabees. (Photo courtesy of ReaganLibrary.gov)

Trees were planted to hide the new facilities from view of the ranch. (Photo courtesy of ReaganLibrary.gov)

1945:The D-Day assault on Iwo Jima was made by the 5th Amphibious Corps, which included all of NCB 133 and elements of NCB 31. The NCB 133 operated on the Iwo Jima beaches during the initial stages of the assault, acting as a shore party for the U.S. Marines. While operating under heavy Japanese fire, the 133rd had the dubious honor of suffering more men killed or wounded in action than any other Seabee battalion in any previous or subsequent battle.

1966:The Navy began testing of the nuclear powered saltwater distillation plant at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The plant was installed and serviced by Seabees.

1968: A small detail of Seabees from Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 301 distinguished themselves during the tense siege of Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam (RVN). On January 21, 1968, the North Vietnamese commenced concentrated rocket, mortar, and artillery attacks in preparation for their offensive to take the mountain outpost. The men of the detail repaired numerous rocket, artillery, and mortar holes in the airstrip. The runway crews exposed themselves to enemy fire during repairs. They learned to take cover whenever an aircraft landed because the enemy gunners exercised maximum effort to disabled planes and helicopters on the ground. The last of the detail returned to base camp on February 19, 1968. Members of the detail have been authorized to wear the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon for assistance rendered to the 26th Marines during the siege of Khe Sanh.

1881:The President of the United States conferred relative rank on civil engineers and equal precedence to officers of the line in the Navy for the first time. For the fixed number of 10 CEC officers, one had the relative rank of captain, two with relative rank of commander, three with relative rank of lieutenant commander, and four with the relative rank of lieutenant.

The start of the Second World War sent naval survey teams up and down the Pacific coast looking for new locations for naval facilities. One team was looking for a site to build a naval base to support naval construction activities at advanced bases in the Pacific. The team came to Port Hueneme, California, and recognized it as an ideal port, because it was the only Pacific deep water port between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Word of the discovery was sent to Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, who was busily putting together the new construction battalions. Port Hueneme therefore was tentatively selected as the site for the advanced base depot on the Pacific coast. On February 16, 1942, Admiral Moreell sent his recommendation to the Chief of Naval Operations and it was speedily approved. (Photos courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

OTD in Seabee History: 11 February 2003 – Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seventy Four (NMCB-74) cleaned their weapons, played cards and wrote letters while they unwound in their 60 man field tents. NMCB-74 was based out of Gulfport, Miss., and forward deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (Photos courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

—————–

February 12

1951: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4 activated.

1966: An NMCB 1 advance party of one officer and 100 enlisted men departed Davisville, Rhode Island for Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam (RVN).

1945: Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King approved the retention of construction battalions as a permanent and integral part of the postwar Navy. When originally established in the Second World War, the Seabee organization was meant to be only a wartime expedient.

1942: The start of the Second World War sent naval survey teams up and down the Pacific coast looking for new locations for naval facilities. One team was looking for a site to build a naval base to support naval construction activities at advanced bases in the Pacific. The team came to Port Hueneme, California and recognized it as an ideal port, because it was the only Pacific deep water port between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Word of the discovery was sent to Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, who was busily putting together the new construction battalions. Port Hueneme therefore was tentatively selected as the site for the advanced base depot on the Pacific coast. On February 16, 1942, Admiral Moreell sent his recommendations to the Chief of Naval Operations and it was speedily approved.

1968: Seabee Team 5801 moved into their quarters at Chau Phu City, Chau Doc Province, RVN, a massive fort built by the French in 1882, serving as both living quarters and shop facilities.

—————–

February 17

1942:The first Seabee unit organized to build advanced base facilities overseas arrived at Bora Bora in the Society Islands to construct a fuel depot. These Seabees were called “the Bobcats” because the code name for Bora Bora was “Bobcat.”

1945:4th Naval Construction Brigade (NCB) inactivated.

1969: Seabee Teams 0103 and 0104 were assigned to the 21st NCR for 18 weeks of specialized training.

OTD in Seabee History: 13 February 2004 – Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven Four (NMCB 74), Detachment Souda Bay, were called on to assist when a large winter storm dumped over 18 inches of snow on the Naval Support Activity. (Photos courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

The Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, desalinization plant circa 1964. In reprisal for the arrest of Cuban fishermen who entered Florida coastal waters, the Cuban government cut off the water supply to the United States naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This action severed the base’s last link with Cuba on the other side of the boundary fence. On the same day the United States authorized construction of a $10 million seawater desalinization and power plant at Guantanamo. Within hours, Seabees commenced site preparation. The plant was built in record time, and by late July was producing fresh water. Full operation was achieved in January 1965 when the plant’s three flush-type evaporator units were producing a total of 2,250,000 gallons of water a day, and its turbine generators were producing a total of 15,000 kilowatts a day. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Early February

1991: By early February 1991, 2,800 Seabees and 1,375 pieces of equipment had been deployed to the region in support of Operation “Desert Shield.” Upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia, the Seabees built critically needed facilities at the four airfields where the Marine Air Combat Element had deployed. This entailed construction of parking aprons, as well as base camps to house the Marines pouring into the area. Next, the Seabees built ammunition supply points for the large amounts of ordnance being transported to the region. Once these needs were met, the Seabees shifted emphasis to improving living conditions in the Marine camps.

1964: In reprisal for the arrest of Cuban fishermen who entered Florida coastal waters, the Cuban government cut off the water supply to the United States Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This action severed the base’s last link with Cuba on the other side of the boundary fence. On the same day the United States authorized construction of a $10 million seawater desalinization and power plant at Guantanamo. Within hours, Seabees commenced site preparation. The plant went up in record time, and by late July was producing fresh water. Full operation was achieved in January 1965. Three flush-type evaporator units were producing a total of 2,250,000 gallons of water a day. Additionally, turbine generators produced a total of 15,000 kilowatts a day.

1967:UTP2 James O. Miller was mortally wounded at the NMCB 8 detachment site at Tam Ky, RVN, when an 82mm mortar round exploded about five feet outside his berthing hut. Miller died several hours later after being evacuated to a hospital in Chu Lai.

1974: NMCB 71 turned over the new Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station to Commander, Naval Support Force Antarctica. This ended the involvement of Seabees at construction and facility maintenance at the South Pole. Thereafter the National Science Foundation contracted out all construction and maintenance work at the South Pole. (Read Rendezvous with Penguins: Seabee Construction of the South Pole Dome for more information.)

1943:The Acorn Assembly and Training Detachment was established at Port Hueneme, California. The chief functions of the unit were the organization, outfitting, and staging of Acorns. An Acorn was a “tailored” unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each Acorn had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each Acorn to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the World War II, Acorns sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.

Seabees of Naval Construction Battalion 121 joined the Fourth Marine Division and landed on Roi and Namur, the northernmost islands of the Kwajalein atoll, while Army forces landed on its southern islands in February 1944. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1969:Detachment of Seabees from Amphibious Construction Battalion Two augmented by 17 Seabee divers from the 21st NCR and Atlantic and Pacific mobile construction battalions install TEKTITE I habitat on the ocean floor on 28 January and standby to assist aquanauts with any problems or potential emergencies. Full installation of the habitat completed on February 12.

1944: Seabees of Naval Construction Battalion 121 joined the Fourth Marine Division and landed on Roi and Namur, the northernmost islands of the Kwajalein atoll, while Army forces landed on its southern islands. A savage bombing and shelling all but destroyed both the enemy base and the defending force at Roi and Namur. Trees were uprooted and buildings destroyed. Clearing the debris and the dead was the first order of business, and the Seabees set to work. Members of NCB 109 arrived a few days after the initial landings. The battalions ripped up and resurfaced Roi’s triangle of three airstrips. Less than two weeks after the assault, a fighter squadron arrived to operate out of the base. On adjoining Namur, the Seabees built fuel tanks for an aviation supply depot and a pier.

1955: United States Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (Special) was formed as part of the Construction Battalion U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Its mission was to build and support scientific bases in the Antarctic as part of Task Force Forty-three during Operation Deep Freeze I. Before the unit left the United States there were 166 men and 15 officers assigned to it. The commanding officer of the battalion was Cdr. Herbert W. Whitney, CEC, United States Navy Reserve (USNR).

1966:NMCB 40 was re-commissioned at Davisville, Rhode Island. Under the command of CDR Benjamin L. Saravia, CEC, USN, NMCB 40 was the first battalion reestablished in order to augment the Naval Construction Force for the Vietnam War.

1968: The NMCB 3 camp area received two rocket rounds during the lunch period. Seaman (SN) Richard L. Blevins was killed in action. One member of NMCB 8 was wounded in action. At the same time, NMCB 3’s fourth flight to the continental United States (CONUS) was mortared while emplaning at the Phu Bai Airport.

1969:Seabee Team 5803 deployed to Vietnam for assignment to Officer in Charge, Construction Battalions, Pacific Detachment, for duty at Chau Phu, RVN.

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February 3

1945: ACORN 36 decommissioned and Naval Air Base Orote commissioned. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)

1967: Seabee Team 0908 returned to the main body at Da Nang, RVN via C-118 aircraft from leave in the U.S. after completing a six-month deployment in Vietnam.

1967: NMCB 121 commissioned at CBC, Gulfport, Mississippi.

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Early February

1990: When Hurricane “Ofa” struck American Samoa in February 1990, Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40 and 133 were quickly on the job providing disaster relief and clean-up on the island of Tutuila.

]]>http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/01/28/this-week-in-seabee-history-week-of-january-28-february-3/feed/0This Week in Seabee History (Week of January 21 – January 27)http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/01/21/this-week-in-seabee-history-week-of-january-21-january-27/
http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/01/21/this-week-in-seabee-history-week-of-january-21-january-27/#respondSun, 21 Jan 2018 14:34:30 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=15793Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage CommandProject Rest Stop personnel survey the jungle on Diego Garcia for a possible naval base in 1967. One of the major projects for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and the major project for the Seabees in the 1970s and early 1980s was the construction of the naval complex on the atoll of Diego Garcia, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Diego Garcia, one of the 52 coral atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, is located in the Indian Ocean 960 miles south of India and seven miles south of the equator. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

January 21

1942: The 1st NCB, the earliest Seabee organization activated and sent overseas, later broken into three detachments including the famous Bobcat Detachment, was commissioned at Charleston, South Carolina.

1971:Nine-man reconnaissance party lands at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), to confirm planning information and carry out preliminary survey of beach landing areas for 50-man party of NMCB 1 and Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 to arrive in March and begin construction of U.S. Naval Communication Station Diego Garcia, BIOT.

1963:Seabee Teams 0501 and 0502 were the first Seabee Teams to arrive in Vietnam. Team 0501 was employed at Dam Pau in central South Vietnam and Team 0502 was employed at Tri Ton, southwest of Saigon near the Cambodian border. Both teams were employed in support of the United States Army Special forces.

1971: The Navy League Councils throughout the country sponsor Sea Cadet units which take 14 to 17 year old youngsters and give them “boot camp” and technical training aimed at qualifying them up to E-3. Sea Cadet graduates who later enlist in the Navy can enlist at their level of attainment in the Sea Cadet program.2008:NMCB 15 steelworkers and engineers of the 814th Multirole Bridge Company completed construction of a floating span of a Mabey Johnson Float Bridge in the Al Anbar Province, Iraq.
—————–January 26

1943:ACORN 4 arrived at Noumea. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)

1967:Seabee Team 0511 departed the main body at Da Nang, RVN, for training at the 31st Naval Construction Regiment (NCR), Port Hueneme, California.

1972:Seabee Team 6207 departed Yap Island for Guam.
—————–January 27

1942: The first Seabee detachment, the Bobcats, left the United States for Bora Bora in the Society Islands. The Bobcats were the advance part of more than 325,000 men who served in the Naval Construction Force during the Second World War.

1945:143rd NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, RI.

1947:105th NCB reactivated, being re-designated as ACB 2 in October 1950.

Susan Hayward, Dennis O’Keefe and John Wayne on the set of “The Fighting Seabees” in 1943. The film’s world premiere was held simultaneously at seven Seabee camps across the country on Jan. 14, 1944. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1944: The world premiere of “The Fighting Seabees” was held simultaneously at seven Seabee camps across the country.

1968:Equipment Operator (Construction Equipment) Constructionman H.G. Hodges was killed, and Equipment Operator 3rd Class J.G. Stotko, was wounded, by an enemy grenade detonation while they were manning a defensive position at the “Project Beaver” helicopter repair facility project at Red Beach, Da Nang, Vietnam. Stotko was flown by medevac to the 1st Marine Medical Battalion where he was listed in good condition. Preliminary investigations indicated that Hodges shielded the force of the blast from Stotko while attempting to hurl the enemy grenade from the bunker. Subsequently, the Silver Star Medal with combat “V” was posthumously awarded to Hodges for his heroic action. These men were part of a 16-man security detail from NMCB 9 charged with manning the perimeter of the project site from December 25, 1967 to January 14, 1968.

1969:Seabee Team 0513 departed for Ben Tre, RVN.

January 15

1943: 4th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) commissioned.

1944: 21st and 22nd NCRs commissioned.

1972:Seabee Team 7410 deployed.

1960: Men and equipment from the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC), Port Hueneme, California, began work on Operation Packdown. In this operation, Seabees turned a 125-acre snow-covered meadow at Squaw Valley, California into a parking lot for the Winter Olympics. Since snowfall in the High Sierras, where Squaw Valley is located, can bury a car overnight, the compaction of the snow in the meadow was no small job. However, the parking lot was completed early in February and could accommodate between 10,000 and 12,000 of the cars that arrived daily February 18-28 for the Winter Games.
—————–January 16

1991: Operation “Desert Storm,” the expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait began in early 1991. On this day allies initiated a massive air campaign against Iraq. Before it was over, Allied aircraft flew more than 40,000 sorties against Iraqi targets. At this time planning went forward for the 3rd Naval Construction Regiment to move into Kuwait in the wake of advancing Allied forces to open roads and airfields and provide immediate battle-damage repair.
—————–January 17

1968: The second advance party departed the continental United States (CONUS) via C-130 and C-118 aircraft to join the first advance party in Republic of Vietnam (RVN).

1947:As a part of Adm. Richard E. Byrd’s Antarctic expedition, Operation Highjump, 166 Seabees sailed from Port Hueneme, California, in December 1946. The Seabees sailed on the USS Yancey and the USS Merrick. The USS Yancey arrived alongside the ice of the Bay of Whales, Antarctica, on 18 January 1947, and the USS Merrick arrived shortly afterwards. The Seabee detachment, part of a total complement of 4,000 men and 13 ships, then proceeded with their assigned tasks at Little America 4 in Antarctica. They unloaded equipment and supplies, set up a temporary naval base, built housing, a mess hall and storage facilities. They also built a temporary airstrip, an emergency base further inland and a communications system. The Seabees did all this work during the Antarctic “summer,” with temperatures ranging from approximately 30 degrees above zero to 26 degrees below zero. [ADDITIONAL STORY: Read Rendezvous with Penguins: Seabee Construction of the South Pole Dome, by Dr. Frank Blazich.]

1965: NMCB 11 deployed from Port Hueneme, California, and simultaneously relieved NMCB 9 on Okinawa by turn-around airlift. The airlift of the two battalions by the U.S. Air Force marked the first time in the Seabees’ history that NMCBs have been deployed by air.

1965:The first deployment by air of an entire Seabee battalion took place when NMCB 11 flew from Point Mugu, California, to Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands. This method of transportation saved a full month of travel time for each Pacific deployment. NMCB 8, Detachment Echo, completed a mission vital to fleet operations in defense of the Eastern Mediterranean. Originally begun in January 1963 by NMCB 6, Project Judy involved building an entire Naval Communications Station in a swamp area near Marathon, Greece, a rural community situated on the shores of the Aegean Sea, approximately 25 miles from Athens. Interestingly enough, the community of Marathon is near the site of the famous Battle of Marathon fought between the Greeks and the Persians, circa 490 BC.

1991: U.S. Marines began to move north in preparation for the expected ground assault on the Iraqis. In support of this, the Seabees began to concentrate on building and maintaining roads to serve as the main supply routes throughout northern Saudi Arabia.

After months of constructing millions of square feet of aircraft aprons, camps for tens of thousands of Marines, and hundreds of acres of ammunition and supply points, the Seabees prepared to support the ground assault into Kuwait. NMCB 5 moved half its strength to Al Kabrit, 30 miles from the Kuwaiti border, and began construction of a Naval Construction Force Logistics Support Base from which the Seabees could provide the First Marine Expeditionary Force the construction support needed during the upcoming assault into Kuwait. The top construction priorities during this period were water, roads, and facilities for the Marine division assembly areas. Water was obtained by exploiting already-existing wells, and the Seabees built galley facilities for the 30,000 Marines of the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions. A 40,000 man capacity enemy prisoner of war camp was also built.

Petty Officer Second Class Michael Cowart smooths concrete during construction of a Marine camp in northern Saudi Arabia. Cowart is a member of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Five operating during Operation Desert Storm in February 1991. Photographed by CWO2 Ed Bailey. (NHHC Photograph Collection, Navy Subject Files, Seabees)

The most formidable task facing the Seabees was the road network required by General Schwarzkopf’s “End Run” attack strategy. Spanning more than 30 miles of desert from Al Mishab to Al-Kabrit, the “End Run” strategy ultimately required more than 200 miles of roads west and north of the Kuwaiti border. Because of the need to deceive the Iraqis, much of the construction necessary had to be done at the last minute. Working in the wettest weather seen in Saudi Arabia in years, Seabees completed the necessary construction in approximately two weeks. Thousands of trucks moved million of gallons of water and fuel, and tons of supplies, ammunition and spare parts on this road network to support the two Marine divisions making the assault. By the time the assault was launched, Seabees were maintaining approximately 200 miles of roads near the Kuwaiti border. One of these roads was an east-west corridor from Ras Al Mishab through Al Kabrit, continuing past Al Qaraah for a total distance of almost 100 miles. This six-lane road was traversed daily by more than 500 heavy haulers and thousands of tactical vehicles.

1970: Seabee Team 7102 arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island from Vietnam for reassignment to NMCB 7.

1973: Seabees of NMCB 71 complete construction of a geodesic dome at the new Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Over the next few decades, the dome becomes the iconic image of the South Pole station.

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January 9

1969: Seabee Team 0914 completed training at the 31st NCR and deployed to Camp Kinser, Okinawa, on a C-118 aircraft from Naval Air Station (NAS) Point Mugu, California.

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January 10

1942:The first man received at Quonset Point, Rhode Island for the newly formed construction force was Shipfitter 1st Class Robert Thomas Adams, USNR, from Newport, Rhode Island. He arrived on January 10, 1942. Adams was not the first man enlisted, but because of the alphabetical sequence of his name, he appears in the original construction battalion books as the first Seabee.

1943:68th NCB commissioned at Camp Bradford, Norfolk, Virginia.

1946: 37th Special NCB inactivated at Oahu, Hawaii.

1967:Seabee Team 0510 deployed to the Republic of Vietnam (RVN).

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January 11

1959: The men of Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 10 boarded the USNS Daniel Sultan at Guam, Mariana Islands for transfer to their homeport at the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC), Port Hueneme, California. MCB 10 was established on Guam in 1952. This establishment was actually a re-designation of the last active World War II Naval Construction Force unit, the 104th Naval Construction Battalion, under its new mission concept as a “mobile” land-based construction battalion. Until its recent disestablishment in July 1976, MCB 10 was the only construction battalion in continuous operation since World War II.

1967: Five NMCB 8 personnel were wounded in an enemy mining incident approximately 12 miles south of Chu Lai, RVN on a road leading from Route 1 to the 2/7 Marines Echo Company area. The vehicle involved was well sand-bagged and as a result, the personnel injuries were relatively slight. The two men in the cab of the vehicle were air evacuated to the First Medical Battalion.

1968: NMCB 7’s Detail Alpha Nine returned from Khe Sanh, RVN to Camp Adenir after being relieved by NMCB 53 personnel; Seabee Team 0602 arrived in Saigon, RVN. The team moved by convoy to Phuoc Tuy Province, RVN on January 22, 1968.

1971:NMCB 4 main body departed Okinawa for the continental U.S. (CONUS).

2005: NMCB 40 Seabees arrived in Sri Lanka in response to the December 26, 2004 tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia. Other Seabees from NMCB 7, 30th NCR, and Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 2 arrived within days to Sri Lanka and Thailand to provide disaster relief and survey port facilities.

A Seabee recruiting brochure, circa 1942. On Jan. 5 of that year, the Bureau of Navigation (now the Naval Personnel Command) approved Admiral Ben Moreell’s request for authority to recruit skilled craftsmen and artisans to man a Naval Construction Force. The original authorization was for a Naval Construction Regiment composed of three Naval Construction Battalions. This approval, in effect, was the actual beginning of the Seabees. Authorizations for additional battalions soon followed in rapid sequence. The first Seabees were not raw recruits when they voluntarily enlisted because the emphasis in recruiting them was placed on experience and skill, so all they had to do was adapt their civilian construction skills to military needs. To obtain men with the necessary qualifications, physical standards were less rigid than in other branches of the armed forces. The age range for enlistment was 18-50, but after the formation of the initial battalions, it was discovered that several men past 60 had managed to join up, clearly an early manifestation of Seabee ingenuity. During the early days of the war, the average age of Seabees was 37. These first recruits were the men who had helped build Boulder Dam, the national highways, and New York City’s skyscrapers; who had worked in the mines and quarries and dug the subway tunnels; who had worked in shipyards and built docks and wharfs and even ocean liners and aircraft carriers. By the end of the war, 325,000 such men had enlisted in the Seabees. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Throughout December

1917: The 12th Regiment (Public Works) was established at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Illinois, to build and maintain naval facilities. The Naval Construction Force (NCF) detachments which built naval facilities in France in 1918, remained in the minds of planners during the interwar period and stimulated development in 1941-42 of the first naval construction battalions, the Seabees.

1943: Seabees of CBMU 549 were told they were to erect a “typical Seabee camp” for a new Hollywood movie, “The Fighting Seabees,” starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. The Seabees were delighted that they would be seeing all the stars. They saw stars all right – only they were the overhead kind – visible from sunset to dawn. The men of CBMU 549, set for the luxuries of the film darlings, got the shock of their life when the first three days on their new job they worked around the clock, 24 hours a day. After arriving “on location,” the men were immediately put to work erecting tents, showers, heads, electric generators and a refrigeration plant. At the end of the week, the camp was complete in all details including water system, roadways and street lights.

1947: Although the Seabees had operated from early 1942 as an NCF, it was not until this time that the Seabee Reserves were organized. At their inception, the Seabee Reserves were organized into divisions under the Naval District in which they were located. Each division usually represented a city, although in the larger cities there sometimes were several divisions. By 1949, the number of active duty Seabees had dwindled to 3,300. Then in June 1950 when the armies of North Korea invaded South Korea, it was the Seabee Reserves that enabled the NCF to quickly expand to over 14,000 for the emergency.

1947: CBD 1151, 1152, 1504, 1512 inactivated. CBD 1511 activated.

1957: 30th NCR inactivated.

1965: NMCB 10, the first full battalion to arrive in Vietnam, was relieved by NMCB 4 at Camp Shields, Chu Lai, RVN. NMCB 7 returned to Davisville, Rhode Island, from Rota, Spain.

1965:Direct Procurement Petty Officers Program was instituted.

1973: The talents of the men of Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 were called upon during an emergency beach salvage operation in the Chesapeake Bay after three barges broke loose from a civilian tug. Together with the Coast Guard, ACB 2 struggled in turbulent weather to secure the barges and, as a result, successfully prevented damage to the bay’s bridges and the threat of a severe navigational hazard.

2006:For the first time ever, naval intelligence specialists were directly assigned to Seabee units beginning this month.

1947:The organized construction battalion reserve was authorized by a Bureau of Personnel issued this date. It authorized the formation of 123 organized Seabee companies, each composed of five officers and 40 men. The full strength of the 123 companies, with authorized complements filled, was 615 officers and 4,920 men.

1947:121st NCB inactivated on Saipan and redesignated at CBD 1504.

1970: While traveling by boat between Cho Moi and Binh Thuy in Vietnam, five Seabees of NMCB 74’s Detail Charlie were killed in action by Viet Cong forces. They were Builder 2nd Class Jerry B. Edmonds Jr.; Construction Electrician 3rd Class Harold E. Asher; Equipment Operator Constructionman Edger P. Beck; Constructionman Wayne Sterling Rushton; and Constructionman Frank Neubauer. The Seabees had been working on two projects at Cho Moi. The first project was the construction of a complete modern naval base which could support more advanced bases, and the second was the construction of concrete block housing for 80 families of RVN personnel.

1992: On 10 December 1992 Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 arrived at Mogadishu as part of the Naval Support Element in Somalia. Within a short time ACB 1 unloaded five of the U.S. Marines’ Maritime Pre-positioning Force ships, refurbished the port, and provided fuel and water for military forces in Somalia.

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 and 40 began deploying to Somalia on 10 December. Within 30 days both battalion main bodies had arrived. The 30th Naval Construction Regiment (Operational) was activated to provide command and control for the two deployed battalions. By the end of December, Seabees from NMCB 1 were convoying personnel and equipment to Baledogle, Bardera, and Baidoa to effect airfield repairs and improvements and construct base camp facilities for the deploying U.N. coalition forces. The Seabees arrived in Baledogle on 31 December and joined forces with Marines from Marine Support Wing Squadron 372 to establish landing and staging areas for CH-53 helicopters and a taxiway and turnaround pad for C-130 aircraft. The Seabees used 240,000 square feet of AM2 metal matting to construct the facility.

Near Bardera, Seabees from NMCB 1 restored a water source to a refugee camp by installing a new pump on the bank of the Jubba River. Seabees from NMCB 40 completed Operation “Clean Sweep” in Mogadishu, which consisted of removing debris (trash and car hulks) from critical areas of the city. They also prepared a site for a 300-bed Army evacuation hospital and installed 90,000 square feet of airfield at the Mogadishu airport. NMCB 40 participated in the amphibious landing at the Port of Kismayo. They quickly completed repairs to the Kismayo airfield, which allowed the rapid deployment of follow-on coalition forces to
that city.

Finally, the Seabees provided construction support for President George Bush’s visit to Somalia on 1 January. In addition to their tasking in support of the coalition forces, the Seabees carried out numerous civic action projects in support of the Somali people during the course of Operation “Restore Hope.”

1944: ACORN 18 arrived at Espiritu Santo. 10th NCR inactivated. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)

1968: Detail Bravo One of NMCB 7 departed for Hoi An, RVN to begin construction work at the Cords Hospital.

1973:A small team of Navy Seabees went to earthquake-riddled Managua in Nicaragua. Their task was to recover as much as possible of the classified equipment and materials buried in the rubble of what was once the United States Embassy. The four-man team from the State Department’s Naval Support Unit in Washington, D.C. made quick work of what was originally estimated to be a three-to-four week job. Within nine days, all of the equipment had been retrieved. Upon completion of that mission, the team then retrieved the major portion of the remaining office furniture and equipment from the wreckage. Following the work at the embassy, at the request of the wife of the Nicaraguan President, the Navy Construction Team proceeded to Managua’s El Retiro Hospital for a similar job. The Seabees immediately employed their technical expertise and equipment to recover the valuable operating room and surgical gear from the ruins of the big hospital. Recovery of this equipment not only saved the hospital substantial money, but also enabled the hospital to be used in the much needed medical treatment of the earthquake victims. The team departed from Nicaragua on January 18th. Use of this team provided another example of the varied talents of the Seabees, who are almost as well known for their humanitarian accomplishments as their combat construction feats.

—————–

January 4

1968: Equipment Operator 1st Class H.C. Cousineau was killed when struck by enemy fire while riding in a helicopter north of Tan Ky, RVN.

—————–

January 5

1942:The Bureau of Navigation (now the Naval Personnel Command) approved Admiral Ben Moreell’s request for authority to recruit skilled craftsmen and artisans to man a Naval Construction Force. The original authorization was for a Naval Construction Regiment composed of three Naval Construction Battalions. This approval, in effect, was the actual beginning of the Seabees. Authorizations for additional battalions soon followed in rapid sequence.

1943: ACORN 3 arrived at New Caledonia.

—————–

January 6

1945: A Seabee whose unit was attached to a Marine Division doubled as a combat pilot during the invasion and battle for Cape Gloucester, New Britain. Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Chester J. Perkins of NCB 19 flew a total of 218 hours, 105 of them during combat as the pilot of a light, unarmed reconnaissance plane. He made daily flights over enemy territory to transport rations and supplies to isolated jungle patrols and to spot for artillery batteries. In addition, Perkins carried blood plasmas to Marines wounded during the invasion operations and dropped medical supplies while fighting was still in progress. Perkins operated mostly from crude, improvised landing strips, usually roadways and sand bars. On one occasion, a fusillade of enemy bullets pierced the cabin floor of his tiny plane. Fortunately, all of them missed him. For his outstanding accomplishments, Perkins was awarded the Navy Air Medal on Jan. 6, 1945.

1967: The first aircraft of the advance party of NMCB 133 arrived in RVN.

1968:The first advance party of eight officers and 137 Seabees of NMCB 8 departed the continental United States (CONUS) via C-130 aircraft for deployment to RVN.

A portion of an Army bridge being pushed into place on the Rhine River near the Remagen bridgehead in December 1944. Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 629 was split into four detachments of one officer and six men each, with three of the detachments working with small boat units in their preparation for the Rhine River crossing, and one of the detachments working with an Army Engineer unit. The first Seabees to enter Germany, they later assembled pontoon barges to be used in connection with the strengthening of the Ludendorff Bridge. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Throughout December

1990:Among the major projects completed during Operation “Desert Shield” were a headquarters complex for the First Marine Expeditionary Force and a 15,000 man camp for the Second Marine Expeditionary Force. The latter project was the largest wartime multi-battalion Seabee project since the Vietnam War. NMCB 1, 4, 5 (project lead), 7, 24, 40 and 74 worked on the project. Construction began in late November. The camp comprised six modules, each capable of housing 2,500 men. Each module contained berthing, office space, showers, toilet facilities, a galley, roads, and parking areas. The completed camp complex was dubbed “Wally World.”

Completing these projects required the Seabees to work seven days a week, two twelve hour shifts a day. The only days off during the whole period of Seabee involvement in the Gulf were Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Gulf environment provided an added challenge for the Seabees. When the first wave of Seabees arrived in August, the heat was intense, often reaching 120 F. By the time most of the Seabee units had arrived in December, the heat had mitigated, daytime temperatures in the 70’s dropping to the 30’s at night. The other major problem was sand: it got into everything and was particularly hard on equipment.

Among the major projects completed during Operation Desert Shield were a headquarters complex for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and a 15,000 man camp for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. The completed camp complex was dubbed “Wally World.” (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum/Flickr)

1943: Seabees of the 19th NCB joined the First Marine Division in the assault on Japanese-held Cape Gloucester, New Britain. During the battle, Seabees bulldozed paths to the Japanese lines so that American tanks could attack hostile positions. By New Year’s Day, the Japanese airstrips were captured. However, during this first week, continuous enemy air raids resulted in five men of the battalion killed and 24 wounded.

1944: Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 629 was split into four detachments of one officer and six men each. Three of the detachments worked with small boat units in their preparation for the Rhine River crossing, and one of the detachments worked with an Army Engineer unit. The first detachment became the first Seabee unit to enter Germany on 26 December. Later, they assembled pontoon barges on the Rhine at Remagen. These barges were to be used in connection with strengthening the Ludendorff Bridge. When that structure collapsed, work on the barges stopped.

Dec. 26-31, 1956: California has been a frequent beneficiary of Seabee firefighting forces. Forest and brush fires have been a special hazard during the state’s dry season. Seabees from the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC), Port Hueneme, California, manned the fire lines in the Malibu Canyon – Zuma Point area and helped contain one of the worst brush fires in California history. Seabees fought the blaze alongside civilian firefighters. In addition, Seabees were busy putting out small fires that cropped up along the highway, digging trenches, cutting fire breaks in the valley and gullies surrounding the Zuma Mountain Range, helping residents protect their homes from the ravenous flames.

1941:In a letter to the Bureau of Navigation dated 28 December, the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks wrote that construction work on advance bases in combat zones could be carried on satisfactorily only by the utilization of military personnel under direct military command. Adm. Moreell recommended that “early steps should be taken toward the organization of such military construction forces if they are to be trained and available at the times their services will be required.” Moreell pointed out in this letter that not less than 12 construction companies of 226 men each should be available for assignment to duty at locations outside the continental limits at an early date in order that the advance base construction program might be carried forward with all possible speed and vigor. He recommended that these companies be grouped into three battalions, with an additional headquarters unit of 168 men for each battalion. These latter units would be composed of cooks, bakers, pharmacist mates and all the other ratings necessary to make the battalion a complete operating unit if thrown into the field on its own. A proposed personnel organization, drawn in detail, was submitted for approval.

1945:36th Special NCB inactivated at Okinawa.

1967: One flight of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 53 advance party arrived on board Camp Adenir and 27 personnel of the NMCB 7 advance party departed for Davisville, Rhode Island.

The first B-29 Superfortress bombers land Dec. 21, 1944, at North Field on Tinian, the massive airbase being constructed by the 29th, 30th and 49th NCRs under the 6th NCB, commanded by Commodore Paul J. Halloran, CEC. Since July, the Seabees worked around the clock to construct North and West Fields on the island into the main B-29 bomber bases for the ensuing air campaigns against the Japanese home islands. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1971: Seabee Team 4005 arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island from the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) for reassignment to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1; Seabee Team 4005 returned to NMCB 40 from the Island of Truk, TTPI.

1944: The first B-29 Superfortress bombers land at North Field on Tinian, the massive airbase being constructed by the 29th, 30th and 49th NCRs under the 6th NCB, commanded by Commodore Paul J. Halloran, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC). Since July, the Seabees worked around the clock to construct North and West Fields on the island into the main B-29 bomber bases for the ensuing air campaigns against the Japanese home islands.

1945: 147th NCB inactivated on Okinawa.

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December 22

1942: 53rd NCB commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

Dec. 22-23, 1968:On the evening of the 22nd-23rd, Naval Support Activity Saigon Detachment Qui Nhon was attacked by a small group of Viet Cong. An explosion heavily damaged the barracks where the Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 302 detail was quartered. The explosion was followed by small arms fire from Viet Cong infiltrators on the base. Three CBMU 302 personnel were wounded. Chief Equipment Operator Sears was critically injured, while Construction Electrician (Telephone) 3rd Class Snyder and Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Turnage suffered light to moderate injuries.

1968:NMCB 1’s advance party of two officers and 18 men deployed via one C-141 from Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), to Davisville, Rhode Island.

1956: The last of the initial contingent of Seabees was evacuated from the South Pole Station by U.S. Navy aircraft. On Nov. 20, eight Seabees and 11 dogs landed at the geographic South Pole in aircraft of Air Development Squadron 6. There they constructed facilities and impacted snow for an airstrip.

UH-1D’s at Amundsen Camp, Antarctica. These small helos were used to ferry personnel to otherwise inaccessible areas of the Trans-Antarctic mountains, where the geologists conduct studies of the history of the Earth’s last frontier, 23 December 1970. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1965: Team 1105 departed Pleiku, Pleiku Province, for Detachment Headquarters at Tan Son Nhut, thus ending the Seabee Team Program in support of the U.S. Army Special Forces and Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) Program.

Rear Adm. R.O. Glover, 7th Fleet Forces commander, awards the Navy Silver Star to Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Malcolm A. Peppo, 113th Naval Construction Battalion, for his actions during a Japanese attack on Dec. 15, 1944. While unloading stores from an LST during the assault on Mindanao, Philippine Islands, Peppo’s ship was attacked by a kamikaze plane. Because the ship was being unloaded, its bow doors were open and its ramp was down, making it helpless to maneuver. When the anti-aircraft gun crew looked up and saw the suicide plane headed straight for the beached vessel, the men instinctively abandoned their positions and scattered. Peppo, however, jumped into the vacated gun emplacement and fired at the oncoming plane until it crashed. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1967: Seabee Team 0407 officially relieved by Seabee Team 0809 in the city of Can Tho, Phong Dinh Province, RVN; main body of NMCB 58 arrived in RVN.

1969:NMCB 53 was disestablished at Davisville, Rhode Island; Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) requested assignment of one diving officer to the staff of the Commander 21st NCR and one diving officer to 31st NCR to coordinate and manage a nucleus of Atlantic and Pacific area underwater construction teams.

1992: Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 arrived at Mogadishu as part of the Naval Support Element in Somalia. Within a short time ACB 1 unloaded five of the U.S. Marines’ Maritime Pre-positioning Force ships, refurbished the port, and provided fuel and water for military forces in Somalia.

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 and 40 began deploying to Somalia on 10 December. Within 30 days both battalion main bodies had arrived. The 30th Naval Construction Regiment (Operational) was activated to provide command and control for the two deployed battalions. By the end of December, Seabees from NMCB 1 were convoying personnel and equipment to Baledogle, Bardera, and Baidoa to effect airfield repairs and improvements and construct base camp facilities for the deploying U.N. coalition forces. The Seabees arrived in Baledogle on 31 December and joined forces with Marines from Marine Support Wing Squadron 372 to establish landing and staging areas for CH-53 helicopters and a taxiway and turnaround pad for C-130 aircraft. The Seabees used 240,000 square feet of AM2 metal matting to construct the facility.

Near Bardera, Seabees from NMCB 1 restored a water source to a refugee camp by installing a new pump on the bank of the Jubba River. Seabees from NMCB 40 completed Operation “Clean Sweep” in Mogadishu, which consisted of removing debris (trash and car hulks) from critical areas of the city. They also prepared a site for a 300-bed Army evacuation hospital and installed 90,000 square feet of airfield at the Mogadishu airport. NMCB 40 participated in the amphibious landing at the Portof Kismayo. They quickly completed repairs to the Kismayo airfield, which allowed the rapid deployment of follow-on coalition forces to that city. Finally, the Seabees provided construction support for President George Bush’s visit to Somalia on 1 January. In addition to their tasking in support of the coalition forces, the Seabees carried out numerous civic action projects in support of the Somali people during the course of Operation “Restore Hope.”

1963: Opening ceremonies were held for a 6,000-foot military airfield located at Nakhon Phanom in northeast Thailand. The airfield was near the Mekong River which divides Thailand and Laos. The construction of this airfield was the first major project undertaken by the Seabees in Southeast Asia. The men of NMCB 3 began the project, which included the clearing of 235 acres of heavy monsoon forest, in August 1962.

1966: Four personnel of NMCB 8 were wounded in an enemy mining and booby trap incident, approximately 10 miles south of Chu Lai, RVN on Route No. 1. Two men were wounded when the five ton wrecker in which they were riding was blown up by a command detonated mine. Two other NMCB 8 personnel were wounded at the scene when a Vietnamese detonated a booby trap believed to be a fragmentation grenade. All four casualties were air evacuated to the First Medical Battalion Hospital in Chu Lai, and were stabilized in good condition.

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December 14

1942:ACORN 6 commissioned. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)

1945: The Construction Battalion Center (CBC) Port Hueneme, California, consisting of the U.S. Naval Advance Base Depot and the U.S. Naval Training and Distribution Center, was established as the center for Seabee activity in the postwar Navy.

1956: Chief Builder Charles A. Bevilacqua erects a 15-foot tall, orange-and-black striped bamboo pole, topped with a 16-inch mirrored glass ball atop the newly completed garage at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. This “ceremonial” South Pole is still in use today.

1967:Detail Foxtrot of NMCB 5 came under enemy fire while deployed at site A-3, RVN. The resultant enemy action resulted in Builder (Heavy) Constructionman Roger E. Huestis being killed in action, and Builder (Concrete) 2nd Class Wiliam D. Thompson wounded in action. Thompson later died as a result of wounds received in this action on December 15, 1967.

1942: When the Seabees were first established, the United States Navy recruited skilled construction workers and taught them how to use advanced base equipment and how to fight. Because they were skilled in their trades, the men were offered petty officer rates based on their experience and their age. However, on December 15, 1942, direct voluntary enlistment in the Seabees was ended in compliance with a Presidential Order requiring all the military services to obtain their manpower through Selective Service. By that time, about 60 battalions had been assembled.

1944: One of the heroes of the World War II was Seabee Machinist Mate 3rd Class Malcolm Peppo of the 113th NCB. While unloading stores from an LST during the assault on Mindanao, Philippine Islands, Peppo’s ship was attacked by a Japanese kamikaze plane. Because the ship was being unloaded, its bow doors were open and its ramp was down, making it helpless to maneuver. When the anti-aircraft gun crew looked up and saw the suicide plane headed straight for the beached vessel, the men instinctively abandoned their positions and scattered. Peppo, however, jumped into the vacated gun emplacement and fired at the oncoming plane until it crashed. For his courageous actions, Peppo was awarded the Silver Star.

1967: Seabee Team 0309 returned to the main body at Camp Wilkinson. (Camp Wilkinson was the Seabee camp at the Gia Le Combat Base near Phu Bai, RVN.

1969: Construction Battalion Unit (CBU) 401 was established at the Public Works Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. It was a pilot unit in the Seabees Ashore Program and was to provide assistance to all United States Navy activities at Great Lakes in their self-help efforts. Depending on the size and complexity of projects assigned, it provided skilled supervisions of non-Seabee ratings, Seabee equipment, and its own manpower to enhance living spaces and expand and improve recreational facilities.

Seabees constructed tent city as part of Operation Sea Signal. Joint Task force 160 constructed facilities to improve the quality of life of migrants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, December 1994. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Throughout December

1994: The main effort in Cuba was Operation “Sea Signal” during which Joint Task Force 160 constructed facilities to improve the quality of life of Cuban migrants at Guantanamo. By order of the 2nd Naval Construction Brigade, the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment (Forward Element) deployed to Guantanamo with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 and an air detachment from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7. As directed by the U.S. Atlantic Command, the senior leadership of the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment (Forward Element) met with engineers from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command’s Atlantic Division to develop preliminary designs for the $35 million Quality of Life Improvement Program for 20,000 Cuban migrants.

The original plan called for the construction of 37 migrant villages arranged in 11 village clusters at two locations: Radio Range and McCalla Field, approximately seven miles apart. Migrant riots in Panama led to a decision to return 7,000 refugees to Guantanamo Bay; this resulted in both an accelerated construction schedule and an enlargement of project scope for the Seabees. A detachment from the Air Force’s 820th Red Horse construction unit was mobilized from Nellis Air Force Base to assist the Seabees. When the project concluded the two tent cities constructed were capable of housing almost 20,000 people. This multi-national, joint-service work-force completed an astonishing 100,000 man-days of construction effort in a harsh environment while scheduling their construction projects around the migrants and their daily operations.

1966: Seabee Team 0910 departed the main body at Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam (RVN) via C-118 aircraft for the 31st NCR to commence military and technical training.

1967:At a convoy passing site, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 personnel were involved when four mines exploded simultaneously. (They were believed to have been command-detonated dud bombs.) Several Seabees were knocked down by the blast and one carried 40 feet through the air. Unbelievably, no casualties were sustained.

1971: A training complex built by and for Seabees at Port Hueneme, California was dedicated and named in honor of a fallen United States Marine comrade, Captain John V. Francis. Francis was the assistant military training officer for the 31st NCR in 1969 and 1970. On February 10, 1970, he, along with 12 others, was killed in a helicopter crash while on an inspection tour of Seabee units assigned to Vietnam.

1969: Headquarters of the 30th NCR moved from Vietnam to Okinawa, Japan. This move was the result of the reduction of the Naval Construction Force in Vietnam, which was the result of de-escalation of U.S. activity in Southeast Asia.

1943: ACORN 5 disestablished. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)

1942: On this date, Camp Parks was established near Shoemaker, California. Although originally established as a replacement and recuperation center for Seabee battalions returning from overseas, in practice the major service rendered at Camp Parks was the tactical training of Seabee units transferred from the east coast for embarkation to the war zone. Incidentally, Camp Parks was called upon from time to time to provide all phases of primary military and technical training for Seabee units.

1944: Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 629 played an instrumental role in breaking Germany’s formidable Rhine River barrier. The U.S. Army, concerned about the river’s swift and tricky currents, called upon the Seabees to construct, operate and train their personnel in the operation of landing barges that would be used to carry assault forces into the enemy’s homeland. Thus it was that CBMU 629 became the first Seabee unit to enter Germany on Nov. 26. 41st Special NCB formed at Hollandia.

1968: NMCB 9 main body, consisting of 14 officer and 499 men, deployed to Camp Kinser, Okinawa, on two 707s and one Super DC-8 from NAS Point Mugu, California.

Dec. 2 & Dec. 5, 1946: The USS Yancey and USS Merrick, respectively, departed Port Hueneme, California to take part in Admiral Richard E. Byrd’s Antarctic expedition, Operation Highjump. Aboard these ships were 166 Seabee members of the expedition. The mission of Operation Highjump was to map the frozen continent, train personnel, and test gear under cold weather conditions. Seabee tasks at Little American Four included unloading equipment and supplies, setting up a temporary naval base, and building housing, a mess hall and storage facilities. In addition, they built a temporary airstrip, an emergency base further inland, and a communications system. These men were the first Seabees to serve in Antarctica.

1969: The main body of NMCB 4 moved from Vietnam to CBC, Port Hueneme, California.

Seabees working at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, while an aircraft lands. Beginning in 1955, Seabees began deploying yearly to the continent of Antarctica. As participants in Operation Deep Freeze, their mission was to build and expand scientific bases located on the frozen continent. The first “wintering over” party included 200 Seabees who distinguished themselves by constructing a 6,000-foot ice runway on McMurdo Sound. Despite a blizzard which once destroyed the entire project, the airstrip was completed in time for the advance party of Deep Freeze II to become the first men to arrive at the South Pole by plane. The Seabees next assignment was to build a permanent scientific base on the continent. Over the following years, and under the most adverse conditions, Seabees added to their list of accomplishments such things as snow-compacted roads, underground storage, laboratories, and living areas. One of the most notable achievements took place in 1962 when the Navy’s builders constructed the continent’s first nuclear power plant at McMurdo Station. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

November 19

1945: 2nd NCB inactivated. 19th NCB inactivated on Okinawa.

1963: Reconstruction of ammunition magazines and permanent camp facilities and roads at Vieques Island of the U.S. Naval Station, Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, was commenced by NMCB 7.

1967: Firefighters from NMCB 9 and neighboring Marine units waged a successful day-long battle to contain a fire which threatened to destroy major exchange facilities at the Freedom Hill Recreation Center near Da Nang, RVN. Despite the combined efforts of Marine and Seabee units, a post office, warehouse, and several small shops were lost. The task of cleaning debris from the twisted metal remains of two 40 x 200-foot buildings began immediately as part of the effort essential to reconstruct the devastated facilities.

1967: Seabee Team 0912 departed the main body at Da Nang, RVN, via C-118 aircraft for the 31st NCR to commence military and technical training.

Nov. 20-28, 1943: During World War II, the island campaign of the Central Pacific began. Tarawa, Makin and Apamama in the Gilbert Islands fell between Nov. 20-28. The toughest objective was the fortress of Betio, main island of the Tarawa Atoll. A savage air and naval bombardment razed the above-ground defenses, but the well dug in Japanese defenders took a toll of nearly 1,000 American dead in one of the costliest island seizures of the Pacific War. D-Day plus 4 saw the first echelons of the 74th and 98th NCBs come ashore at Tarawa. The big problem was cleaning up ravaged Betio Island. As a base, it has been wrecked. Ruins, decaying food dumps, thousands of dead from both sides and chaos met the occupiers. The Seabees had to clear and grade virtually every square foot of the island, and put Tarawa’s Japanese airstrip in use less than a day after landing. Keeping it in continuous operation, they resurfaced and lengthened the runway to 6,000 feet. In addition, they erected a fuel farm and housing facilities, and inventive Seabees used Japanese materials to rebuild Tarawa’s principal dock.

1956: The Seabees had long been used to working tropical jungles and even in the extreme cold of Alaska, but Operation Deep Freeze took them to the coldest and most desolate area on earth. On November 20, eight Seabees and 11 dogs were landed by plane near the geographical South Pole to begin construction of South Pole Station, the first permanent camp at the South Pole. Thanks to the Seabees, Antarctica was later able to boast snow-compacted roads and runways, underground storage and comfortable living areas. Read “Rendezvous with Penguins: Seabee Construction of the South Pole Dome” on SEABEE Online.

1965:NMCB 9 named its camp in honor of Steward 3rd Class Restituto P. Adenir, who was the first member of NMCB 9 killed in Vietnam (October 28, 1965).

1967:Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) requests that the Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) be advised by naval commands and project offices engaged in oceanographic and deep sea development and/or operational activities for which facility/construction requirements may be generated or required of program developments on a continuing basis “in order that the advancements in NAVFAC and Seabee underwater construction capabilities are matched to emerging operational requirements.”

November 22

1960:During the summer, an unusual rainfall caused Lake Miragoane, near Mira, Haiti, to rise and virtually isolate the southern tip of Haiti. Haitian Army engineers called on the United States to help. A Seabee detachment from Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 was sent to the area. The detachment constructed a bridge and improved six miles of road leading to it. On November 22, the bridge and road were dedicated. The dedication ceremonies were attended by the U.S. ambassador to Haiti and numerous Haitian government officials.

1943:ACORN 14 and ACORN 17 arrived at Tarawa. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)

1944:The necessity of building an airstrip on Samar Island in the Philippines became evident even before American forces landed there, so three Seabees and a geologist were landed to make a survey under the very noses of the Japanese. Led by Cmdr. Bradford Bowker, officer in charge (OIC), NCB 61, the group boarded a Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM) on the night of Nov. 23, and silently stole ashore the following morning. Any thought of a secret landing was dispelled, however, as the small group reached shore. There, 5,000 cheering Filipinos stood to greet them. Instead of a sneak survey, the adventure turned into a wild party of eating, drinking and dancing. It seems that Bowker, a tall man with a hawk-like profile, was mistaken by the natives for Gen. Douglas MacArthur and nothing the commander could say convinced them otherwise. The next day, the “secret” survey was made and three days later the Seabees left the island with the location of the future airstrip determined.

1992:The U.S. formally turned over the naval installations at Subic Bay and Cubi Point to the Republic of the Philippines, ending almost half a century of Seabee construction and maintenance at both installations.

November 25

1944:ACORN 35 decommissioned.

October and November

1972:Detachment CHAGOS of NMCB 71 and the whole of NMCB 1 arrived, marking the beginning of large-scale construction. NMCB 1 built the transmitter and receiver buildings and placed the base course for the permanent runway and parking apron. In July 1972 NMCB 62 relieved NMCB-1 and took over the departing battalion’s projects. On 25 December the first C-141J transport landed on the newly completed 6,000 foot runway with the Bob Hope Christmas Troupe. The full 8,000 foot permanent runway with adjoining taxiway and parking apron was completed by March 1973; and on 20 March, exactly two years after construction began, the U.S. Naval Communication Station, Diego Garcia, was officially established.

Seabees assigned to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest stand in formation during a memorial honoring Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin Glenn Shields at Gardiner Cemetery. The ceremony paid tribute to the only Seabee Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam veteran, Shields, who was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest military award for his actions and for giving his life to save comrades while under enemy attack. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan J. Batchelder)

Shields was the first and only Seabee to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was also the first Sailor to receive the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty in the Vietnam War.

“Because of the service and sacrifice of our veterans, we live in the strongest, the freest, and the greatest nation in the history of the world,” said Rear Adm. John Korka, Commander, NAVFAC Pacific. “There is no finer example of valor, patriotism, and noble service than that of Marvin Shields.”

After his death from wounds sustained while defending his position and comrades in the battle of Dong Xoai on June 9, 1965, Shields was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest honor, by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966.

“No one aspires to receive the Medal of Honor. I believe that It happens out of love. “said Capt. Christopher Kurgan, commanding officer of NAVFAC Northwest. “If you look at Marvin’s gravestone, it reads, ‘He died as he lived. For his friends.’ He sacrificed everything for the ideals of freedom, his country, his family, and his friends.”

Born in Port Townsend, Wash., Shields lived on Discovery Bay in Gardiner.

After graduating high school and working at a gold mining project in Hyder, Alaska, he enlisted in the United States Navy as a Seabee in 1962 and married his wife Joan that same year.

“We should all understand what a big sacrifice that everyone who puts on the uniform makes every day,” said Joan Bennett-Shields, widow of Marvin Shields. “Today’s ceremony was fantastic. [Rear] Adm. Korka touched me deeply by not only remembering the men and women who serve but also the family who supports them.”

Recognizing Shields, as well as three other Medal of Honor recipients, the state of Washington passed legislation in 2015 to rename a part of a U.S. state highway as a tribute to their sacrifices to our nation.

“Coming here this morning, it’s always a solemn drive across the four-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101 that was renamed to the North Olympic Peninsula Medal of Honor Memorial Highway,” said Kurgan. “It’s a good reminder for all of us to not forget where our freedom comes from as well as the blessings we have as citizens of this great nation. Today, Marvin is our reminder.”

The significance of memorials held not just on Veteran’s Day, but every day around the country, remind us of the service members who have paid the ultimate price and gave their lives for their country. Often, wounds not only reside with the casualties and their commands, but exist and resonate for far longer back home, according to Shields-Bennett.

“He led a humble life and loved everybody,” said Bennett-Shields. “He was willing to sacrifice his life, and mine, not only in the biggest way, but in an everyday way to make sure those around him felt loved. It’s a great message for the world we live in today and I believe it’s his legacy: ‘He died as he lived. For his friends.’”

1970: Seabee Team 4004 returned from Xuan Loc, RVN for reassignment to NMCB 40.

November 14

1967: The first increment of NMCB 58’s advance party arrived at Da Nang, RVN. The commanding officer of NMCB 10 moved from Gia Le to the Quang Tri Forward Combat Base, RVN, and established the battalion headquarters there.

1968:Railroad Bridge No. 1, first of three being rebuilt by NMCB 1’s detail Foxtrot around Lap An Bay, RVN, is completed.

1983: NMCB 1, then deployed at Rota, Spain sent a survey team to Beirut after being alerted of a potential tasking in support of the U.S. Marines who were part of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon. The tasking consisted of improving the living conditions of the Marines located at the Beirut International Airport. On Thanksgiving Day Detail Bravo Lima, consisting of 1 CEC officer and 38 Seabees departed the battalion main body for Beirut. In January 1984 the tasking was expanded; and on 5 January a second increment, consisting of an additional CEC officer and 39 Seabees was sent to Beirut. The battalion also shipped 61 pieces of equipment to Beirut in support of Detail Bravo Lima. The tasking was completed and the first increment returned on 17 February 1984; the second increment and the 61 pieces of equipment returned on 1 March 1984. This was the first involvement of Seabees under combat conditions since the Vietnam conflict.

2014: Capt. Frederick Mucke, CEC, relieved Capt. Gary Rouse, CEC, as commodore of the 7th NCR during a change of command ceremony aboard Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Mississippi. The regiment ushered in a new era with the change of command and the relocation of its headquarters from Newport, Rhode Island to Gulfport, Mississippi.

November 16

1945:29th Special NCB inactivated at Guam.

November 17

1969:Because of curtailment of Department of Defense operating funds and completion of major construction tasks in Southeast Asia, seven Naval Mobile Construction Battalions were slated for retirement by the end of the year. The first four battalions disestablished included: NMCB 9 at Port Hueneme, California; NMCB 128 at Gulfport, Mississippi; and NMCB 6 and NMCB 58 at Davisville, Rhode Island. In December 1969, NMCB 8, 11 and 53 were disestablished.

1971: Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5 arrived at their homeport of Port Hueneme, California. This was the last full battalion to depart from Vietnam. Their departure marked the end of a significant chapter in the Seabee effort in Vietnam, an effort which began at Chu Lai in 1965 and resulted in the construction of approximately $200 million worth of facilities in support of U.S. forces.

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November 8

1942:Seabees encountered their first combat in the European theater of operations when they landed with the assault forces on the beaches of North Africa. The Seabees built facilities at Oran, Casablanca, Safi, and Fedala. Later, as the American Army moved across Africa toward Tunisia and the final showdown with the Germans, the Seabees built staging and training areas along the coast as far as Arzeu. On the west coast of Africa, the Seabees built a huge Naval Air Station in Port Lyautey, Morocco and supplementary air and supply bases at Agadir and Casablanca. Through these later ports poured materials, men, and equipment needed for the coming invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland.

1944:13th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) inactivated.

1945: 20th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) inactivated on Okinawa.

1969: Seabee Teams 1113 and 1114 transferred to NMCB 3 to become Seabee Teams 0315 and 0316, respectively, due to disestablishment of NMCB 11.

1962: During Typhoon Karen which struck Guam, winds reached 142 miles per hour with gusts of up to 200 miles per hour. The typhoon injured hundreds of people and left nine dead. Damage to U.S. defense facilities reached $200 million. NMCB 5, stationed on Guam at the time of the typhoon, aided in restoring the wrecked island. The shops and much of the equipment of the Seabees had been destroyed, but with what they still had, they worked hard and fast. They erected plywood housing and canvas tents to shelter the homeless, cleared debris from roads and streets, and rebuilt bridges. Seabee electricians raised 1,000 new power line poles and restored light, power, and communications to the island. NMCB 11 arrived in December and a massive reconstruction program was started. By early 1963, Guam’s naval facilities began to look normal again.

2001: The call came for NMCB 133 to provide direct support for Operation Enduring Freedom and an Air Det Heavy was stood up as U.S. Marine led coalition force for offensive operations in Afghanistan. Organized under Brigadier General Mattis, the 1st MEB commander out of Pendleton, the Air Det Heavy went in country on 28 November as Task Force 58.5 with the Operations Officer as the Air Det Heavy OIC being a direct report to the commanding general. The Air Det was organized in two elements, the small lead element of 27 Seabees to go to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Rhino to maintain a dry lake airstrip and provide rudimentary contingency construction and the remainder of the Air Det Heavy to follow on into Kandahar to help establish a permanent operating base by providing Rapid Runway Repair (RRR) and contingency construction.

2005: NMCB 3 turned over with NMCB 133 in Fallujah Iraq and redeployed to Kuwait in order to setup mainbody operations in Kuwait to support of Combined Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) and Area Support Group, Kuwait. NMCB 3 established the new Main Body deployment site from scratch while integrating over 145 personnel from NMCB 21, and 139 personnel from the Army’s 63rd Construction Support Element. NMCB 3 worked with the Army to develop a master plan for what is now the Seabee main body deployment site. While deployed to Kuwait, NMCB 3 successfully completed over 20,000 man days of tasking, and completed 58 tasked projects in direct support of the CFLCC mission.

Rear Admiral John R. Perry, CEC, served as Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and Chief of Civil Engineers in the mid-1950s, after serving as director of the Pacific and Alaskan Division, Bureau of Yards and Docks. The Perry Award is given each year to the most outstanding reserve battalion in the Naval Construction Force for achievement in the areas of leadership, readiness, construction accomplishments, equipment management, logistics programs, retention and safety, and was awarded for the first time on Oct. 30, 1966, to Reserve Mobile Construction Battalion 18. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

October 29

1943: 132nd NCB inactivated at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, California.

1944:9th NCR inactivated.

1945: 8th Special NCB inactivated at Port Hueneme, California.

1967: Seabee Team 1010 departed Thailand and arrived at 31st NCR for leave and debriefing.

1966:In a ceremony at the Sands Point Naval Air Station (NAS), Seattle, Washington, Rear Adm Lewis C. Coxe, commander of the Southwest Division of Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), presented the Perry Award to the commanding officer of Reserve Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 18. This was the first year the Perry Trophy was awarded. The Perry Trophy competition provides a yardstick for measuring the mobilization capability of each Reserve MCB. Military and operational readiness, manning level, overall proficiency, leadership and morale are considered in the selection process.

1966: Personnel of NMCB 7 assembled to pay tribute to one of their own. In a brief ceremony, the battalion camp at Phu Bai, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), was dedicated in memory of a lost shipmate, Steelworker (Erector) 3rd Class Stanley Claus Campbell. On August 25, 1966, Campbell gave his life on the defensive perimeter of the camp which now bore his name.

October 31

1941: The Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Rear Adm Chester W. Nimitz, authorized the Bureau of Yards and Docks to establish a Headquarters Construction Company of 99 men. Resident Officers in Charge of Construction (ROICC) were to utilize the men as engineering aids and administrators, and as inspectors and supervisors to oversee the work of civilian construction contractors at overseas bases. It was not contemplated that the company would do any actual construction work.

1943: Aviation, Construction, Ordnance, Repair, Navy (ACORN) 15 arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia. ACORNs were advanced base units consisting of combat aircraft service personnel and a Seabee detachment. Their responsibility was the construction, administration, operation, and maintenance of new or existing airfields during World War II.

1945: After World War II, several naval activities were transferred to or established at Port Hueneme, California. The Advance Base Proving Grounds at Davisville, Rhode Island was disestablished and the operations, men, and equipment were transferred to Port Hueneme, later known as the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory.

1945:76th NCB inactivated on Guam.

1960:NMCB 8 reactivated.

1965:The first units of 300 Seabee-built homes at the U.S. Naval Station Rota, Spain opened to occupancy through a joint effort of NMCBs 4, 7 and 8. Construction commenced on the housing project in July 1964.

1966: Seabee Team 0909 completed training at the 31st NCR and deployed to Thailand via C-130 aircraft. NMCB 3 advance party departed for the continental United States (CONUS).

1967:“Ghost Battalion” disestablished in the RVN. Cmdr. Foley returned and resumed command of NMCB 3.

2014: NMCB 25 officially concluded battalion operations in Afghanistan with the casing of its colors in a ceremony at New Kabul Compound, Afghanistan. This ended 13 years of Naval Construction Force operations in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

November 2

1942: The offices of Director, Atlantic Division and Director, Pacific Division, Bureau of Yards and Docks were established with the Director given authority to act for the Chief of the Bureau.

November 3

1942: 36th NCB arrives at Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia, the first Seabee unit to train at the camp.

1945: 117th NCB inactivated at Saipan.

1968: Seabee Team 0310 moved from Long Xuyen to Bac Lieu, RVN via convoy.

1942: Camp Peary established in Williamsburg, Virginia, named in honor of Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), U.S. Navy.

1944:6th NCR inactivated.

Naval Station Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines (19 October 1991) – Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 (NMCB) 4 use a front loader, left, and a bulldozer to consolidate piles of volcanic ash during cleanup of the ash that fell on the naval station following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

Photograph of the first Chief Petty Officers of the Seabees at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, January 1942. In October 1941, the first Chief Petty Officers were reassigned from the fleet into the newly created Headquarters Construction Companies, the predecessor to the Construction Battalions. After December 7, 1941, these units were merged into the First Naval Construction Battalion which left the states for Bora Bora on January 27, 1942. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1967:The first Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officer to be killed in Vietnam was Lt. Joseph J. Rhodes, a member of Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 121. Rhodes was riding in a jeep that struck a land mine and he died from multiple shrapnel wounds. Two other occupants of the jeep, Chief Steelworker Gordon J. Dibble and Builder (Concrete) 3rd Class Jon R. Morbay, were also killed. A Seabee camp at Quang Tri, RVN was later dedicated in Rhodes’ memory. A plaque bearing the inscription, “Camp Rhodes Dedicated in Honor of Lt Joseph John Rhodes, Killed in Action October 23, 1967” was unveiled by Rear Admiral A.C. Husband, then Chief of Civil Engineers.

October 24

1942: The African American 34th NCB is commissioned by Rear Adm. Lewis B. Combs at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia. The 34th NCB is the first African American Seabee battalion in the Navy.

1944:Tank mounted flame throwers became a productive weapon for routing Japanese soldiers out of caves and pillboxes during the Second World War. A composite group was set up to assist the Army’s Chemical Warfare personnel in developing this weapon. Included in the group were an officer and 25 Seabees from the 117th NCB. After several demonstrations, the flame throwing tank proved to be generally satisfactory except for one technical detail, which the tankmen said was a distinct disadvantage. The Seabees set to work on a design for a functional modification of the weapon. Not only did the Seabee design eliminate the objectionable feature of the prior models, but it greatly reduced the number of moving parts. At its first demonstration on October 24, 1944, the new weapon was given enthusiastic approval by tankmen and chemical warfare officers. In addition to building these flame thrower tanks, Seabees also instructed tankmen how to operate them. The Seabee instructors assisted in making experts out of Army and Marine tankmen before the tanks went into action in such places at Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Peleliu.

2012:Rear Adm. Katherine (Kate) L. Gregory assumed duties as commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and chief of Civil Engineers, the first woman in Navy history to hold either position.

October 27

1943: During the invasion of Mono Island in the Treasury group of the Solomon Islands, a party of Seabees from NCB 87 landed within an hour after the assault began. The party, headed by Lt. Charles E. Turnbull, CEC, U.S. Naval Reserve, also included Machinist Mate 1st Class (Construction Battalion – Equipment Operator) Aurelio Tassone and his 20-ton bulldozer. The assaulted troops were being held down by fierce Japanese gunfire from cannon and machine guns hidden in a strongly built pillbox. After some discussion, it was decided that Tassone would see what his dozer could do to it. Raising his blade for protection, and supported by Turnbull, who was armed with a carbine, Tassone rushed the pillbox. When he reached the obstruction, he exerted down pressure on the blade and tore into the barricade, covering the defenders with logs and tons of earth. None of the enemy troops emerged alive. Both Tassone and Turnbull were awarded the Silver Star Medal for their bravery.

October 28

1965:At Marble Mountain, Da Nang East, RVN, Viet Cong bands with mortars and satchel explosives blasted an air facility and a badly-needed advanced base hospital being built by NMCB 9. The assault killed two Seabees and wounded over 90. Eight Quonset huts housing surgical, laboratory, X-ray and other wards lay in shambles. The Seabees paused to honor their dead and then set about rebuilding the hospital. They erected and outfitted the surgical and clinical wards, added living quarters, and opened the 400-bed hospital in less than three months.

Seabees cross train in the skills of their colleagues and prepare for deployment with Seabee Technical Assistant Teams (STAT), later called Seabee Teams. These teams consisted of men specially selected from Naval Mobile Construction Battalions to provide direct technical assistance to friendly nations throughout the world. The teams proved exceptionally efficient in rural development programs and earned reverence as the “Navy’s Peace Corps.” (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1964:The main body of NMCB 3 departed Port Hueneme, California, on the USNS Patrick for Guam.

1965: U.S. Naval Support Activity, Da Nang, was established in the RVN under Commander, Service Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Employing about 3,500 naval personnel, the organization was designed to provide logistic support for U.S. and allied units in Vietnam.

1966: CBU 201 departed Davisville, Rhode Island, for Antarctica in support of Antarctic Research Program.

1969: Seabee Team 7103 deployed to Vietnam for assignment to Officer in Charge, Construction Battalions Pacific for duty at Phu Vinh, RVN.

1971: 21st NCR moved into new headquarters building, located in Davisville, Rhode Island.

October 16

1967:A critical need developed in the fall of 1967 for an air and helicopter station in Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam (RVN). The station was needed to counteract a threatened monsoon offensive by North Vietnamese soldiers. The Naval Construction Force responded to the threat by forming a construction battalion comprised of Seabee detachments representing nine different Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCB) working in Southeast Asia. Work proceeded on the airstrip despite the hindrance of heavy rains and occasional mortar fire. The field was officially opened on Oct. 16.

October 19

2011:Chief Builder (SCW) Raymond J. Border of West Lafayette, Ohio killed by improvised explosive device in Afghanistan while assessing a road in Paktika Province while deployed with NMCB 74.

October 20

1945:The 30th Special NCB was inactivated at Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Davisville, Rhode Island. Men eligible for discharge were sent to discharge centers. The ineligibles were shipped to Port Hueneme, California for further assignment. 30th Special NCB inactivated at Davisville, Rhode Island.

October 13

1942: Chief Machinist Mate Henry L. Thompson, 6th NCB, was the first Seabee killed in action. He died during a Japanese naval bombardment of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. Thompson and five other Seabees were huddled in a deep dugout to avoid the huge 14-inch armor-piercing naval shells that the Japanese naval task force hurled into the Seabee camp area. One shell landed directly in the hole. The concussion collapsed the sides of the hole, burying the six men. Two Seabees, bravely disregarding their own safety, dug the six men out of the dirt-filled hole. Though the other five men survived, Thompson was found dead, sitting upright in the bottom of the dugout. It was believed that he died from the concussion as much as from suffocation. The two men who dug out the men, Shipfitter 1st Class H.L. Osborn and Shipfitter 1st Class D.L. Gillis, received the Silver Star for their actions.

1974: Reserve battalion Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 17 dedicated its permanent drill site at Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Port Hueneme, California. The drill site was dedicated in memory of Construction Mechanic 2nd Class James W. Lynch and Builder 2nd Class William A. Fulton. These men died of natural causes while members of NMCB 17.

October 1

1951: Commander Naval Construction Battalions, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (CBLANT) was established. This activity was placed under the command of the Commander of the Service Force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet so he could effectively fulfill his responsibility as construction battalion type commander.

1952: 103rd NCB was disestablished on Guam, and NMCB 10 commissioned the same day on Guam.

1965: Two Atlantic Fleet Seabee Teams were assigned to Project Demo, a project in support of the Department of State at embassies behind the Iron Curtain.

1967:NMCB 9 relieved NMCB 4 and commenced its third consecutive deployment to the RVN near Da Nang.

October 3

1942:The first decorated Seabee hero was Seaman 2nd Class Lawrence C. “Bucky” Meyer of the 6th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB). While working as a truck driver on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Meyer took cover in a Marine machine gun pit during an enemy strafing attack on the airstrip. Manning the machine gun, he fired at the lead Japanese Zero and shot it down. For his exploit, Meyer was awarded the Silver Star Medal. Unfortunately, the medal had to be awarded posthumously, because 13 days later Meyer was killed in action when Japanese dive bombers attacked and destroyed the gasoline barge on which he was working.

1945:48th NCB inactivated at Guam.

1964:NMCB 7 inaugurated the first fully computerized programming of a Seabee construction project when that battalion’s workload at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was planned and programmed by computer. This method of planning became a useful tool in preparing for subsequent construction projects.

October 5

October 6

1945:Seabees are ready to build anything, anytime, anywhere. Thus it came as no surprise to Seabees stationed on Attu in the Aleutian Islands in 1945 when they were ordered to Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to build a Fleet Weather Central to be operated by the U.S. Navy. Work on preliminary plans began immediately, and within seven days 20 Seabees were aboard ship with supplies and equipment bound for the southern end of Kamchatka Peninsula. The site chosen for the weather station was near the city of Petropavlovsk. It was in rolling, wooded country within view of the active volcano, Keryakchaya. The weather central itself consisted of six standard-size Quonset huts attached to a central wood structure. The arrangement permitted centralization of utilities and complete access to all facilities without the necessity of going outdoors. It included quarters for the nine Navy officers and the 24 enlisted men assigned to operate the station. The project was completed in 18 days, working 10.5 hours per day. The Seabees were assisted by the weather station personnel and Russian Army laborers. In addition to the housing, the Seabees cleared the site and leveled it, erected radio masts, and installed utility and weather equipment. On 6 October 1945, the project was completed and the Seabees returned to Attu.

Members of a Seabee Team in 1963 show off their rates. These teams could be tailored to fit any size task, but normally consisted of one junior Civil Engineer Corps officer, eleven construction men and a hospital corpsman. The crew and equipment utilized by these highly mobile, air transportable construction units provided disaster relief and technical assistance around the world. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

September 24

1943: ACORN 13 arrived at Espiritu Santo. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1945: The 69th NCB was inactivated at Davisville, Rhode Island; the 14th Special NCB was inactivated at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

1967:The first flight of NMCB 128’s advance party arrived in Da Nang, RVN.

September 29

September 30

1942:Aviation, Construction, Ordnance, Repair, Navy (ACORN) 1 arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

General Westmoreland at Quang Tri Air Facility for an inspection trip, 22 September 1967 in Quảng Trị, Vietnam. Two days after General Westmoreland ordered an alternate airfield built near the Demilitarized Zone because the Dong Ha air facilities were being subjected to an unceasing steady bombardment, Seabees moved into what then became known as Site X in Quang Tri. The airfield project included construction of a 3,500 ft. runway with 300-foot overruns at each end, a 20,000 square yard parking apron, and a 90,000 square yard helicopter facilty together with living and support cantoments for 500 men.

September 17

1945:ACORN 29 decommissioned and absorbed into Naval Air Base (NAB), Yonabaru, Okinawa. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A CBMU also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

September 18

1942: Authority for the organization of a number of special-duty battalions was granted. This was the first departure from the standard battalion, and the new units were known as Special Naval Construction Battalions (NCB). These special battalions were composed of Seabee stevedores and longshoremen who were badly needed to break a bottleneck in the unloading of ships in the combat zones. Their officers, drawn largely from experienced personnel from the steamship and stevedoring companies, were commissioned in the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC). The Seabees were trained practically from scratch, and the efficiency of their training was demonstrated by the fact that cargo handling in the combat zones compared favorably with that done in the most efficient ports in the United States.

1942:The 26th NCB was commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

1968:Builder 2nd Class Gary Murphy of New Albany, Indiana was traveling as part of a 30-truck unit of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 121 Seabees in a U.S. Marine Corps convoy on National Highway One, south of Phu Loc, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), when the unit came under sudden and heavy enemy fire. Heavy mortar and automatic weapons fire were directed against the Seabee vehicles from concealed enemy positions. The truck upon which Murphy was riding was disabled in the initial onslaught. From an exposed position on the rear of the truck, he laid down a heavy covering fire allowing other Seabees to reach the safety of the ditch. After they had reached cover, he withdrew to a more secure position. From there he killed two enemy soldiers who were moving toward the disabled truck. As smoke from another burning vehicle partially obscured the enemy, Murphy, without regard for his personal safety, returned to the damaged truck, climbed onto an exposed position on top of it, and retrieved a machine gun and ammunition that had been jammed in place during the initial attack. Murphy passed the gun and ammunition down to other Seabees and returned to the ditch to man the gun. An enemy sapper exposed himself and threw a satchel charge but was promptly shot down by Murphy. He then continued to direct heavy fire against the enemy positions, holding them in place until armed helicopter gunships and a Marine Corps relief force arrived. For his actions during the attack, Petty Officer Murphy was awarded the Silver Star Medal on January 23, 1969 during a ceremony at Camp Wilkinson, Gia Le, RVN.

1968: The new Seabee camp built by NMCB 11 at Quang Tri, RVN was dedicated as Camp Rhodes, in honor of Lt. Joseph Rhodes, a CEC officer killed in action.

September 19

1944:The Army Distinguished Unit Citation was presented to the 40th NCB at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, California.

1967: A silver spike ceremony was held at the Liberty Bridge over Thu Bon River south of Da Nang, RVN. Lt. Gen. Hohang Xuam Lam, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), drove in the ceremonial spike. The 2,040-foot long bridge was built by NMCB 4.

September 20

1942:The earliest Seabee regiment, “Construction Regiment, Western Alaska,” was established for construction work at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. It was later renamed the First Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) on Dec. 19, 1942.

1943: The 17th Special NCB formed at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia.

September 21

1950: During the Inchon offensive in Korea, a detachment of Seabee volunteers from Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 carried off an exploit typical of the many legends that have sprung up about the Seabees. Air observation reported eight locomotives trapped by broken rail lines in a switch yard at Yong Dong Po, eight miles above Inchon, Korea. A group of Seabees under a chief petty officer volunteered to go behind enemy lines and attempt to capture the engines. The Seabees sneaked down the line past enemy troops and seized the locomotives. However, when they reached the switch yard, they found a Kirin Brewery alongside the track. After thoughtful consideration, the Seabees decided to liberate not only the locomotives, but some of the beer stacked in the brewery. In quick time, the men had 15 cases of beer loaded aboard the locomotives. They then fired up the engine boilers and began the dangerous trek back to their lines. Along the way they had to repair broken track while under enemy fire. Even the United States Marines began shooting at the trains until they realized they were manned by Seabees. However, in true Seabee fashion, the men of ACB 1 brought back the liberated locomotives intact, as well as the liberated beer, no so intact.

In September 1953 agreements were signed between the United States and Spain granting the US the right to construct and operate air and naval bases in Spanish territory. From Rota to Zaragota the OICC Madrid was charged with building 20 major air and naval facilities with Rota being the crown jewel. Across the bay from Cadiz, Rota was the main terminal for the 485 mile underground fuel transportation system which supplied Air Force and Navy bases with aviation and motor fuel products. Once the OICC Madrid completed its massive projects, the Seabees were tasked to deploy to Rota every year to support the air base and local community with public works projects and civic action programs. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

September 10

1965:NMCB 10 renames Camp Banister at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam (RVN) as Camp Shields, in honor of Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin G. Shields, fallen hero of the Battle of Dong Xoai. Shields is the first – and so far only – Seabee to receive the Medal of Honor.

1968:Seabee Team 4002 arrived in Davisville, Rhode Island, from RVN for reassignment to NMCB 40.

September 12

1944:UDTs, led by Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers and mostly comprised of Seabees, began clearing the approaches to Peleliu for an amphibious assault. Three days later, Marines of the First Division came ashore accompanied by Seabees of NCBs 33 and 73, and Construction Battalion Division (CBD) 1054. Initially, CBD 1054 Seabees operated pontoon barges and causeways to assist in the landing of supplies and vehicles, while the Seabees of the 33rd and 73rd worked on the beach unloading cargo. On September 19, however, when the airfield was captured, they began clearing debris from the airstrips. The following day, their construction equipment was brought ashore and the Seabees began making rapid repairs. Only 72 hours later, three squadrons of fighter aircraft were able to land and begin operations. On September 23, the Seabees began constructing a bomber base which, despite land mines and mortar fire, was made operational in seven days.

1945:The 80th NCB was inactivated at Subic Bay, Philippines.

1966:A facility containing two NMCB camps and the 30th NCR headquarters at Red Beach, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), was named Camp Haskins in memory of Builder (Light Construction) 2nd Class Donald Dean Haskins, NMCB 9, who was killed in action on October 28, 1965, when Camp Adenir, Da Nang, RVN, came under Viet Cong attack.

1968: An NMCB 1 jeep carrying the Delta Company commander and company chief, Lt. j.g. Arthur D. Moscrip Jr., and Builder Constructionman W.W. McGinn, hit a mine en route to a job site at 2/1 Marines south of Da Nang, RVN. McGinn was killed instantly, while Moscrip died the following morning.

September 13

Joan Shields, widow of CM3 Marvin Shields, with their daughter Barbara Diane, receiving her husband’s Medal of Honor from President Lyndon Johnson, September 13, 1966. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1966:Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin G. Shields was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his acts of heroism at the 1965 Battle of Dong Xoai, RVN. The medal was presented to his wife, Joan, and daughter, Barbara, by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. This Medal of Honor was the first and only one ever awarded to a Seabee.

September 15

1944: A naval task force landed the First Marine Division accompanied by Seabees of NCBs 33 and 74, and CBD 1054 on Peleliu, Palau Islands, in the Western Carolines. The island had been subject to air and shore bombardment prior to the landings, while minesweepers and personnel of the UDTs cleared channels and beaches. The UDTs, led by CEC officers, were mostly Seabees. Peleliu marked the first time the Japanese used new tactics to oppose amphibious assaults. The tactics included light resistance on the beaches with heavy counterattacks and a main line of defense inland. Fighting on Peleliu was heavy, because the Japanese had well-prepared positions in caves and tunnels. The island was not secured until November 25.

1945:The 27th NCR was inactivated; the 41st and 59th NCBs were inactivated on Guam.

1950: Seabees of NCB 104, later re-designated as Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1, participated in amphibious landings with the Marines at Inchon, Korea. Building pontoon causeways and unloading eight tank landing ships carrying supplies into Inchon posed major challenges for the Seabees. Inchon harbor had a fantastic tide, over 30 feet in most places. The tide receded to the main channel and left a vast mud flat in front of the city. Small craft, tank landing ships, patrol craft and other supply vessels were left high and dry on the mud when the tide withdrew. In their usual “Can Do” spirit, the Seabees had a pontoon causeway built on the second day that allowed Gen. Douglas MacArthur to walk ashore dry-shod, from USS Mount McKinley.

The Ghost Battalion

Ghost Battalion flag, Quang Tri, Vietnam, September 1967.

Two days after General Westmoreland ordered an alternate airfield built near the Demilitarized Zone because the Dong Ha air facilities were being subjected to an unceasing steady bombardment, Seabees moved into what then became known as Site X in Quang Tri, Vietnam.

The airfield project included construction of a 3,500 ft. runway with 300-foot overruns at each end, a 20,000 square yard parking apron, and a 90,000 square yard helicopter facilty together with living and support cantoments for 500 men.

For the first time in the Seabee construction history in Vietnam, the U.S. Navy’s fighting contruction men and their equipment, from virtually every in-country battalion, joined forces to begin the urgent project.

NMCB-10 received orders and deployed from Okinawa to Quang Tri to take over the mammoth job. Men from nine Naval Mobile Construction Battalions culminated to complete the construction in the alloted time frame. The multi-battalion effort was under the operational control of the 32nd Naval Construction Regiment with men and officers from NMCB One, Three, Four, Seven, Ten, Eleven, Seventy-four, One Twenty-One, and One Thirty-Three engaged in various important stages throughout the project.

The OICC for Site X was CDR Richard Foley, CO for NMCB-THREE and the AOICC was LCDR Ahrens XO from NMCB-121. One of the major issues the Seabees faced was moving 11,000 Vietnamese graves which were in the middle of the projected air facility.

After two weeks, and close cooperation with Vietnamee officials, the Seabees moved the graves in accordance with local customs and traditions. This earned the construction men the name “Ghost Battalion.” That name stayed with the Seabees until the task at Site X was completed.

5 September 2005 – A U.S. Navy equipment operator assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven (NMCB-7), cleared debris at Jones Park in Gulfport, Mississippi. The Seabees were supporting the U.S. Coast Guard, Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Sheriff’s Department to get the city of Gulfport and its waterways back on their feet after Hurricane Katrina. The Navy’s involvement in the Hurricane Katrina humanitarian assistance operations was led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with the Department of Defense.

September 3

1967:At Dong Ha, RVN, five miles south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), a combined Viet Cong–North Vietnamese Army rocket attack detonated 20,000 tons of ammunition and 40,000 gallons of aviation fuel near NMCB 11’s camp. The explosions rocked the base for eight hours, and this represented the largest ammunition disaster in recorded history. Miraculously, no Americans or South Vietnamese were killed.

September 8

1945: Section II of 106th NCB inactivated at Iwo Jima.

September 9

1943: Before dawn, initial Allied landings took place at Salerno, Italy. For these landings, the 12-mile beach was divided into two parts. The north section was invaded by the 46th British Division that landed from tank landing ships with the aid of the 1006th Seabee Causeway Detachment (CBD 1006). The south section was invaded by the American forces that also landed on causeways laid down by Seabee pontoon crews. The Germans, however, were prepared for battle at Salerno. The landing ships carrying the Seabees and their pontoons took a frightful beating. Many pontoon strings were sent ashore and blown up on the mined beaches. Allied ships guarding the beaches were bombed by German guided missiles, dive bombers and torpedoes, and shelled by German submarines and patrol craft. During the first 10 days of battle, the Seabees bivouacked on the Salerno beaches while they unloaded ships, built unloading-slips and roadways, and cleared traffic – doing it all while under constant fire. CBD 1006 suffered 28% casualties. Lt. Carl M. Olson, CEC, officer in charge (OIC), CBD 1006, and seven of his men were killed in action during this conflict. The Allies won the battle at Salerno, and Seabee operations were invaluable in the great victory.

1967: The first flight of NMCB 9 advance party arrived at Camp Hoover.

]]>http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/09/03/this-week-in-seabee-history-week-of-september-3-september-9/feed/0This Week in Seabee History (Week of August 27 – September 2)http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/08/27/this-week-in-seabee-history-week-of-august-27-september-2/
http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/08/27/this-week-in-seabee-history-week-of-august-27-september-2/#respondSun, 27 Aug 2017 13:00:59 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=14746Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command1 September 1942: The Seabees arrive on Guadalcanal The principal objective of the first phase of the struggle, the contest for Guadalcanal, was to deny to the enemy and to possess for ourselves the airfield that the Japanese had been constructing on the island since early May, the field soon to become known throughout the world as Henderson Field It was close to completion when our invasion forces struck, and making it operational, and keeping it that way during months of fierce combat, was the principal task assigned to the 6th Construction Battalion, the naval construction force assigned to our first real offensive move in the South Pacific. The 6th Battalion followed the Marines into Guadalcanal on September 1 and thereby became the first Seabees to engage in the combination of fighting and building for which they had been organized and trained. (Courtesy of Seabee Museum)

1967:At 6:08 a.m., the Dong Ha Combat Base in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) was subjected to an enemy rocket attack. Three of the rockets landed in the Seabee cantonment, Camp Barnes. One of the rockets made a direct hit on a C Company berthing hut. As a result of this direct hit, four men were killed: Builder (Concrete) 2nd Classs Jerry L. Newman, Builder (Concrete) Constructionman Jerome D. Patterson, Builder (Concrete) Constructionman Anthony K. Grasso, and Builder (Heavy) Construction Apprentice Richard J. Wager. Between August 28 and September 25, 1967, the Seabee camp at the Dong Ha Combat Base came under enemy artillery and rocket attack 47 times on 13 different days. All attacks came between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m, with the majority of them coming during daylight hours. As a result of these daytime attacks, construction work was greatly hampered, and sometimes came to a standstill while the Seabees sought cover.

August 30

1945: On V-J Day, August 14, 1945, 13 construction battalions and three special battalions were awaiting assignment to Japan, where they were to aid United States naval forces at Hiroshima, Kabayana, Yokosuka, Omura, Nagasaki, Sasebo, and Kure. That day, 16 officers and 541 men of Naval Construction Battalion 136 embarked on 12 medium landing ships at Guam; reported at Iwo Jima on August 21; and arrived at Yokosuka naval base on August 30. As the first Seabees to land in Japan, they established their camp at the site of the navigation school within the Japanese naval base. After construction a galley and a mess hall, the Seabees were assigned numerous other tasks. They repaired housing, electric and telephone systems and roads at the naval base, graded fields and remodeled buildings for the fleet recreation area, and repaired housing and surfaced an airstrip at Kisarazu airfield. In addition to the 136th NCB, CBMU 602 also arrived in Japan on August 30, 1945. The maintenance unit arrived at Yokosuka from Guam. Its task was to maintain runways and roads at the Marine Corps air base. Furthermore, the Seabees constructed a 2,000-man galley, restored barracks and facilities for personnel, constructed a chapel and recreation facilities, completed a sawmill, public works shops, a cold-storage plant, and a chlorination plant for water treatment, and installed hot-water showers in all barracks.

1954: In Korea, Seabees of CBMU 101 were assigned the task of replacing a 22-foot bridge. The bridge was an old Korean structure of rapidly deteriorating logs and hand-driven piles. It created a hazardous condition for heavily loaded military vehicles. The problem faced by the Seabees was to remove the old bridge in the shortest possible time and replace it with a structure capable of carrying loads up to 30 tons. The Seabees, using heavy I-beams and timbers, laid out and completely prefabricated the new bridge. All material was precut and predrilled. The structure was assembled and each individual piece was marked. The Seabees then disassembled the bridge and loaded the parts in order on a low-bed trailer. At seven in the morning of August 30, 1954, all equipment was moved out in sequence to the old bridge. Rain fell in a downpour throughout the day. However, by four o’clock that afternoon, the old bridge was removed, the approaches broken away, the I-beams laid in, concrete abutment tops poured, cross beams bolted on, decking spiked down, and approaches filled and graded. The road was reopened to traffic that evening.

August 31

1842:The Bureau of Yards and Docks was established, one of five bureaus set up in the reorganization of the U.S. Navy. Captain Lewis Warrington, senior member of the expiring Board of Naval Commissioners, was appointed the first Chief of the Bureau. William P.S. Sanger, appointed civil engineer for the Board in 1836, was transferred to become the first civil engineer on the Bureau staff. The new Bureau received responsibility for the Navy yards, then seven in number.

September 1

1942:Officers and men of the 6th NCB landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. These were the first Seabees to land on any enemy held island in World War II and the first to engage the enemy in combat. The 6th Seabees tackled their most important job: repairing the airstrip then named Henderson Field. It was a never-ending job, for as fast as the builders leveled the strip and put down Marston matting, the Japanese would send bombers overhead to drop high explosive bombs on the strip. As the fighting around the island increased, the Seabees developed a system of repairing the damaged airstrip in minutes. Less than 40 minutes after Japanese bombers swooped down and strafed the field, the Seabees, waiting with previously-loaded trucks, would dart out on the strip and completely fill in the bomb holes. Many times the Seabees worked furiously to repair the field while crippled U.S. Marine interceptors circled overhead waiting to land. Several times while ducking bullets, the Seabees worked on one end of the field making repairs as the Japanese infantry fought with U.S. Marine defenders at the other end. On several occasions the Seabees fought beside the U.S. Marines in hand-to-hand combat against the Japanese troops.

1943: The 1st Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) was inactivated.

1944:Port Directors School established at Davisville, Rhode Island; it was discontinued on Dec. 31, 1944.

1969:Typhoon Doris severely damaged the Quang Tri Camp of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 and various other camps and civilian communities in the Republic of Vietnam. A quirk of fate some might say, because half of the battalion’s main body was still at home port in Gulfport, Mississippi when the Gulf coast was hit by Hurricane Camille on August 19, 1969. After Camille, this half joined the other half already in Vietnam just in time to encounter Typhoon Doris. Thus, nearly half of the Seabees of the battalion suffered through two severe tropical storms within two weeks, each storm on a different side of the world.

Navy etiquette, customs and uniforms have been changing for over 230 years, yet their purpose has remained the same – to provide Sailors with stability, camaraderie and a sense of being part of something bigger than themselves. For the Seabees, the “Fighting Bee” logo on their uniform give them just that. And it all started because this unique organization could not be properly categorized under World War II uniform regulations.

The idea for the Seabee logo evolved when the men of the 1st Naval Construction Detachment (NCD), the “Bobcats,” were training at Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, R.I., in early 1942.

Frank Iafrate was working as a civilian file clerk for the Navy and was in charge of an office that held confidential drawings of naval dock installations located across the United States. Whenever a researcher would come in to look at the drawings, Iafrate would pass the time by drawing caricatures of the researchers. The practice gave Iafrate the reputation as an artist.

Lt. Schilstone, officer in charge of the Bobcats, learned about Iafrate’s talent and asked him to make a “Disney-like” logo for the new group of construction men.

Iafrate’s first idea was that of a “Busy Beaver,” but after some research at the local library he found out that beavers run when danger is around. His second design concept was of a bee “who works industriously and yet is capable of stinging you if you try to claim his property.”

It took Iafrate three hours on a Sunday afternoon to complete the drawing of the bee. He gave the bee a white hat to make him “Navy,” tools to show his construction talents, a Tommy gun to show his fighting ability, a Civil Engineers Corps insignia on each wrist to show he was part of the CEC, and he also made him a third class petty officer.

Another design for the Seabee insignia that gained popularity was a bare-chested man, holding a sledgehammer and wearing a helmet. Frank Iafrate’s “Fighting Bee” was submitted first and chosen before the other design gained more traction. The Fighting Bee was adopted as the Seabees’ official logo on March 16, 1942.

(Above left) Official Seabee logo drawn and signed by Frank Iafrate. (Above right) A competing logo featuring a Sailor holding a sledgehammer.

Even though the Bee was adopted as the official logo of the Seabees, it was not allowed to be worn on the uniform. The Bee was only authorized as equipment marking. Therefore, for the first six months of their existence the Seabees were indistinguishable from fleet Sailors.

Eventually, the Seabees were given fleet ratings and specialty marks close to their civilian trade. For example, a bulldozer operator was rated as a machinist’s mate. However, the obvious problem with the practice was that Seabees were not qualified to perform the same tasks as the rated fleet Sailors with the same specialty.

In May 1942, the Navy solved the visual aspect of the problem by simply abolishing specialty marks for Seabees. While Seabees continued to use fleet specialty titles, such as machinist’s mate, they could no longer wear the corresponding specialty marks. Instead, all rated Seabees wore the embroidered letters “CB” in place of specialty mark on their rating badge.

The new practice proved to be insufficient and by December 17, 1942, the Seabees returned to wearing traditional fleet rates. It was decided that the addition of the letters “CB” embroidered on the lower left sleeve would signify that the Sailor was a not a fleet machinist’s mate but a Seabee machinist’s mate. This style also proved ineffective and months later the Navy still did not have an acceptable means of identifying Seabees.

In mid-1943, the Bureau of Yards and Docks took a new approach and proposed to the Navy Uniform Board that the official Seabee insignia become part of the uniform, much like how the Army identified different divisions with colorful shoulder patches.

The first proposal to make the Seabee insignia part of the Seabee uniform was disapproved because, “the ‘Fighting Bee’ logo was not in keeping with the dignity of the Naval uniform.”

The Bureau of Yards and Docks stayed vigilant and on October 14, 1944, the Seabee insignia was officially approved as part of the Seabee uniform. The 2 ¾” embroidered Seabee logo patch was to be worn on the left sleeve ½” below the shoulder seam. For the remainder of WWII, Seabees wore the insignia on their uniforms. In 1947, the circular shoulder patch was discontinued and was eventually replaced with a larger, less colorful logo incorporated on the left chest pocket after the Seabees became a permanent part of the Navy.

(Above left) Before the Fighting Bee logo was added to the uniform, some Seabees were identified by a square “CB” patch on the lower left sleeve and a rating badge with the letters “CB.” (Above center) Example of circular Seabee logo patch worn on uniform during WWII. (Above right) Present-day Seabee uniform with the insignia on the left pocket.

]]>http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/08/22/hey-mack-are-you-a-seabee/feed/0This Week in Seabee History (Week of August 20 – August 26)http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/08/20/this-week-in-seabee-history-week-of-august-20-august-26/
http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/2017/08/20/this-week-in-seabee-history-week-of-august-20-august-26/#respondSun, 20 Aug 2017 13:00:30 +0000http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/?p=14688Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage CommandAug. 20, 1942, 6th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) Commander, Cmdr. Joseph P. Blundon, Civil Engineer Corp, reported to Gen. A.A. Vandegrift, U.S. Marine Corps, at Lunga Point in the northern coast of Guadalcanal. The mission of the Seabees at Guadalcanal was to make repairs and complete construction of Henderson Field, a vital air station that was controlled by Japanese air forces in the Pacific campaign of World War II prior to the U.S Marine invasion that had overtaken it. “I guess I was the first Seabee to go under fire,” Blundon recalled in William Huie’s “Can Do! The Story of the Seabees.” “The Marines had been on Guadcanal 13 days…while I was reporting to Gen. Vandegrift, the [Japanese] bombers came over and I hit my first foxhole. I just lay there…while the bombs fell around us.”

August 20

1942:20th NCB commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

1965:NMCB 8 was transferred from CBC Davisville, Rhode Island, to Port Hueneme, California. The change in home port was part of the augmentation and reorganization of Seabee units for operations in RVN.

1965: Capt. William M. Heaman, CEC, was promoted to Rear Admiral.

August 21

1943:The 100,000th recruit was sent through the Seabee induction mill at Camp Peary, Virginia, less than eight months after the first recruit was processed at Peary on Dec. 6, 1942. Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Emil Mascotti, Bessemer, Michigan, had the figure 100,000 written in mercurochrome across his chest at medical inspection.

August 22

1954:The French Colonial Forces were defeated at Dien Bien Phu in French Indo-China, May 7, 1954. In accordance with the Geneva Convention of July 21, 1954, Indo-China became a number of sovereign states: Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In addition, Vietnam was divided into two, thus creating North and South Vietnam, roughly at the 17th parallel. The truce agreement declared that the people of the two Vietnams should be permitted to reside in the country of their choice, and the United States was asked to provide transportation for the anticipated mass migration from Communist North Vietnam to free South Vietnam. The U.S. Navy was given the task of providing transportation for the migrants, and Seabees of Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 were charged with installing and operating pontoon bridges where necessary and building campsites for the refugees. However, when the amphibious Seabees arrived in Haiphong on August 22, 1954, they learned that the truce agreement signed in July prohibited the landing of foreign military units in Vietnam. Thus, the Seabees were prevented from operating until all military insignia was removed from uniforms and equipment; some even donned nondescript clothing. Then they returned to their tasks. The Seabees not only assisted in moving several hundred thousand Vietnamese and their possessions, but also built camps that contributed to the refugees’ comfort. While assisting the Vietnamese in their mass migration, the Seabees helped French troops evacuate the country and built a recreation center in the south for U.S. 7th Fleet personnel engaged in the operation. ACB 1 Seabees who participated in Operation “Passage to Freedom” were commended by the Task Force Commander.

August 23

1943: 87th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) becomes part of ACORN 12. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasure Island and Majuro.)

August 24

2010:In a posthumous frocking ceremony, Steelworker 2nd Class (DV) Robert D. Stethem was promoted to the honorary rank of master chief petty officer aboard the USS Stethem (DDG 63) in Yokosuka, Japan. (Stethem was a victim of the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in June 1985, after being singled out from passengers as a U.S. Navy Sailor and killed by members of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, when their demands to release 766 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were not met. He was returning home with fellow members of UCT 1 after completing a routine assignment in Greece. Stethem was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.)

August 25

2009:Groundbreaking ceremonies are held at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, California, for construction of the new U.S. Navy Seabee Museum to replace the older facility which opened in 1956.

1968:Seabee William Darrah, State Department’s Naval Support Unit, was highly commended for heroic efforts in extinguishing what could have been a major fire at the U.S. Embassy in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Due to a curfew, the local fire department was unavailable. In response, the members of the embassy staff, U.S. news correspondents and private American citizens formed a bucket brigade, and managed to control and extinguish the fire. The U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia said, “By general agreement, the person who merits the highest praise is Seabee William B. Darrah, who knew his job thoroughly and showed great personal courage.”

August 15

1944:Invasion forces landed on Guam in the Marianas Islands, July 21. The initial objective was to take possession of Apra Harbor, together with the surrounding development area and airfield on Orote Peninsula. Landing forces struck north and south of the harbor. Seabees participated in the assaults: the 25th and 2nd Special NCBs on the beaches north of the harbor, and the 53rd and 13th Special NCBs, and CBMU 515 on the southern beaches. For three weeks, combat and construction continued until finally, on Aug. 10, Japanese resistance ended. Since considerable development had been planned for Guam, the 5th Naval Construction Brigade was established. The brigade assumed control of the construction and development of base facilities for both the Army and Navy. Guam became a great Army air base, as well as the principal naval base in the Western Pacific.

2009: NMCB 24 finished expansion and upgrade of entry control point on Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, with completion marked by ribbon-cutting ceremony. During construction, Alfa Company graded over 341,000 square feet of roadways and parking areas, excavated and hauled almost 2,400 cubic yards of fill dirt, and placed more than 400 barriers stretching approximately 6,000 feet.

August 17

1969: Hurricane Camille wreaked havoc on the residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In her trajectory across the Gulf Coast, she destroyed or damaged 30,000 homes and hundreds of business, civic and religious structures, severed communications, and knocked out water, power and sewer service. At Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport, 29 buildings were destroyed and more than 90 percent of the structures were damaged. However, after the eye of the hurricane passed over the Gulf Coast, Seabees implemented a massive mobilization effort to assist the surrounding community in recovery operations. Seabees cleared roads, located bodies, rescued survivors, restored water, gas and electrical power, put out fires, set up mobile dispensaries, and unloaded food, supplies and medicine. On October 31, the Center’s military population was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for exceptionally meritorious service before, during and after the devastating hurricane. In addition, there were numerous individual awards to military and civilian personnel at the Center.

August 6

1945: A U.S. Army Air Force B-29 bomber, called the Enola Gay, took off from North Field on the island of Tinian Island and later in the day dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Honshu, Japan. This was the first time that the weapon, until then held secret, was used for a military purpose. The bomb destroyed over four square miles of the city and brought death or injury to over 160,000 people. Seabees of the 6th Naval Construction Brigade participated in many phases of the operation. When the USS Indianapolis arrived at Tinian from the Naval Weapons Center, Port Chicago, California, Seabees helped with the unloading of the components of the atomic bomb. The Seabees then stored the elements in a shed built by themselves, and they then organized a detachment to guard the shed and its mysterious contents. Scientists assembled the atomic bombs in the shed with several Seabees assisting as handymen. Later, when she started on her mission to Japan, the Enola Gay with her atomic bomb took off from Tinian’s North field which the Seabees had built.

2002: Capt. Gary Engle was selected as the first chief of staff of the newly established 1NCD, which was commissioned to lead the Naval Construction Force (NCF) globally.

August 10

1943:ACORN 11 arrived at Noumea. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

August 11

1953: A devastating earthquake on the Greek Island of Cephalonia led to a display of Seabee-Marine teamwork. The commander of the 6th U.S. Fleet ordered 11 Marines and two Seabees from ACB 2 to form a landing party to assist the Greeks in emergency relief operations. The two Seabees were George F. Dyer and Robert J. Gillie. With equipment brought ashore from their ships, the Seabees and Marines first cleared a road from the beach to the village so that Jeeps could bring out the injured. A heavy landslide which blocked the road completely had to be blasted before the Seabees’ bulldozers could start clearing a passage.

1967: Seabee Team 0407 moved from Saigon to Can Tho, RVN.

1968: Seabee Team 0310 with 12 men arrived at Long Kuyen, RVN, while Seabee Team 0311 with 12 men arrived at Can Tho, RVN.

Constructionman Camella J. Jones learns how to operate a large crane from a Chief Petty Officer. She was the first woman of the Navy to qualify as a Heavy Equipment Operator and to be assigned to a U.S. Navy Construction Battalion, November 1972. (Photograph by PH3 Paul Mansfield, USN. NHHC Photograph Collection, NH 106746)

August 1

1945: ACORN 13 was decommissioned and incorporated into Naval Air Base Samar, Philippines. ACORN 30 was decommissioned and Naval Air Base, Jinamoc Tacloban, Leyte was established. ACORN 45 was decommissioned and Naval Air Base Sangley Point, Cavite, Philippines. established. ACORN 47 was decommissioned and Naval Air Base Puerto Princesa, Philippines established. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

1957:The 10th NCB was redesignated as Naval Construction Forces Pacific. This was later to become Naval Construction Battalions, Pacific.

2002:Capt. Gary Engle was selected as the first Chief of Staff of the newly established First Naval Construction Division (1NCD), which was commissioned to lead the Naval Construction Force (NCF) globally.

August 2

1942:16th NCB commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.

1965: On this day the Chief of Naval Material transferred the material support responsibility for the Navy’s floating drydocks to the Bureau of Ships from the Bureau of Yards and Docks. The transfer was made in order to provide more effective support to the Navy’s Operating Forces. Material support included research, development, test, procurement, production, supply, and maintenance and modification, as well as the planning, budgeting, and provision of feasibility advice for the floating drydocks.

The front cover of the July 29, 1966 edition of the first Seabee Courier. (Photo by Brian Lamar)

July 23

1943:111th NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia.

July 24

1940: Rear Adm. Ben Moreell approves plans for Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island. This will later become the first home for the Naval Construction Force in 1941.

Admiral Ben Moreell was the chief of the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps. Best known to the Seabee’s as Father of the Navy’s Seabees or the King Bee.

1944: Tinian was invaded by United States Marines, accompanied by the 18th and 121st Naval Construction Battalions (NCB). The Seabees brought their bulldozers and pontoon causeways ashore on D-Day. Because Tinian’s narrow beaches were covered with low coral cliffs, Seabees devised and operated special movable raps called Doodlebugs. These Doodlebugs made the landings possible.

July 26

1971:Seabee Team 0109 arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island from Kusaie, TTPI for reassignment.

July 27

1942:15th NCB was commissioned at Camp Bradford, Norfolk, Virginia.

1967: NMCB 11 was holding a change of command ceremony at the Dong Ha Forward Combat Base in Vietnam, which had been dedicated to the memory of Senior Chief Equipment Operator Donald J. Barnes, who had been killed in action at Khe Sanh. During the ceremony, attended by many senior naval officers and distinguished guests, a reception for the new commanding officer usually followed a change of command ceremony, but in this case, the custom had to be set aside. Barely half an hour after the ceremony began, enemy forces dropped about five mortar rounds onto the base. After the first round exploded, members of the battalion and visitors ran for the nearest hole. This is significant because it undoubtedly was the first time that a Seabee brigade commander, Captain Albert Marschall, CEC, and six of his battalion commanders shared the same mortar hole during an enemy artillery attack. Thankfully, there were no casualties.

2002: Members of Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 1 rushed to Somerset, Pennsylvania to assist in the rescue of nine coal miners trapped 240 feet underground. The Seabee divers provided transportable recompression chambers and emergency evacuation hyperbaric stretcher to safeguard the miners once recovered. Click here for the full story.

July 28

1943:ACORN 10 arrives at Noumea, New Caledonia. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

July 16

1943: 104th NCB activated at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia

1968: The dedication ceremony for Camp Haines was held with Rear Adm. J.V. Bartlett, commander, 3rd NCB, as guest speaker. The camp was dedicated in honor of Chief Equipment Operator John C. Haines who was killed during NMCB 4’s 1967 deployment to Da Nang, RVN.

July 20

1943:Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Richard Maurer, Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) 63, was cited for the Navy Silver Star following an attack near Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia, in the Solomon Islands by the 1st Marine Raider Regiment. A resident of Seattle, Washington before becoming a member of the 63rd Battalion, Maurer had made many friendships among the Marine Raiders when they were encamped close to the Seabees on Guadalcanal. When the Raiders embarked for their historic attack, Maurer slipped aboard without permission of his superior officers. The gravity of his offense, for which he was ultimately brought to trial, was extenuated, however, by his gallant actions during the attack. From Marine Corps sources, it was learned that Maurer, after attaching himself to a machine gun crew, had serviced and manned the gun with devastating effect upon the enemy when all other crew members had been killed or disabled by mortar fire. He continued by his gun until reinforcements arrived. The Marine officer in charge praised Maurer’s performance and instituted citation proceedings.

July 22

1968:Master Chief William Shannon became the first Seabee senior enlisted advisor to the commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and chief of Navy Civil Engineers. As advisor to the commander, Shannon acted as a point of contact at the command headquarters for all Group VIII personnel in the field.

July 9

1967: At a dedication ceremony, the NMCB 9 campsite was named in honor of Utilitiesman Plumber 2nd Class James Miller, who was mortally wounded on February 6, 1967.

July 10

1943: The Seabees introduced their secret weapon on the beaches of Sicily: the famed magic boxes, steel pontoon sections which revolutionized the strategy of amphibious warfare. The German and Italian defenders were dug in along the northern coastline of Sicily where the best beaches were located. There was only one thing wrong with the German strategy. They had not heard of the new development for joining pontoons to form invasion causeways. Capt. John N. Laycock, CEC, developed a method to join pontoons together by angle iron and bolting pads so that a string of these connected pontoons became a solid structure of cantilevered integrity. On July 10, 1943 the Allied armada appeared off the southern coast between Scoglitti and Licata, and sent infantry ashore across long strings of steel pontoons. Other pontoon structures constructed by the Seabees included the rhino ferry and the landing tug. Each was made by simply putting together a couple dozen pontoons and an outboard motor.

1958:When dissident elements in Lebanon threatened to overthrow the government of that country, the U.S. 6th Fleet cruising in the Mediterranean was sent to Beirut to establish and maintain order, at the request of the Lebanese government. Seabees of Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 attached to the fleet participated in the action with their pontoon causeways when U.S. Marines landed, and again when the Marines re-embarked several months later. The men of ACB 2 not only participated in the landings, but the battalion’s Beach Salvage Teams also reclaimed broached boats and swamped vehicles, and improved beaches and roads. In addition, the Seabees in Lebanon built a road from the beaches to the Beirut airport.

July 11

1944: ACORN 10 was decommissioned. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

1945: The 73rd NCB was inactivated on Peleliu.

July 12

1966:NMCB 4 advance party departed Chu Lai for the continental U.S. (CONUS).

1972: Camp Hill, an advanced base training camp, was dedicated in honor of the late Capt. James M. Hill Jr., CEC. The camp is situated on a 575-acre plot of land under lease to the Navy in the DeSoto National Forest, 15 miles north of the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport, Mississippi. Hill was a former commanding officer of the Center.

July 12-20, 1968:NMCB 3 main body arrived at Camp Faulkner, RVN, by government aircraft.

July 15

1942: The 7th NCB left Advance Base Depot, Port Hueneme, California, for San Francisco, California. This was the first battalion to stage through Port Hueneme.

1944:Construction Battalion Military Unit (CBMU) 613 was established in the Azores from the men of the 96th NCB. Also, the 33rd Special NCB was commissioned at NCTC Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.

1967: Seabee Team 0307 arrived in the continental U.S. (CONUS) from Vietnam; Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 301 main body leaves Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Port Hueneme, California for Da Nang, RVN, with the primary mission of maintaining the advance airfields in the I Corps area.

1968:Dong Ha Combat Base in Vietnam came under enemy artillery fire resulting in the destruction of the Dong Ha (Ammunition Supply Point (ASP). Three NMCB 5 personnel, Builder (Heavy) 2nd Class R.D. Eastman, Construction Mechanic (Automotive) 3rd Class B.E. Hall, and Builder (Concrete) 3rd Class F.J. Rupert were injured as a result of the action. Camp Barnes received major structural damages to all shop areas and damages varying from slight to major in the berthing and administrative areas.

1968:NMCB 58 deployed from Hoi An to Da Nang, RVN and established battalion command at Camp Haskins, North, RVN.

1969:NMCB 58’s Detail Quebec at Cam Lo, RVN crusher site credited with at least one enemy killed when they discovered a body during sweep of the area prior to starting work. The enemy soldier had apparently been setting a booby trap when he detonated another booby trap set by the Seabees the evening before. Local Vietnamese said other Viet Cong had been killed but were carried off during the night.

1942: The 7th NCB arrived at the Naval Advance Base Depot Receiving Barracks at Port Hueneme, California. This was the first Seabee battalion to occupy and stage through the Port Hueneme Depot. While at the receiving barracks, it underwent advanced military and construction training, and was outfitted for overseas duty.

1944:The 1st NCB was inactivated.

1945: The 47th NCB was inactivated at Noumea, New Caledonia.

1969:Seabee Team 0603 returned to Davisville, Rhode Island.

1970:NMCB 7 turned Camp Shields, Chu Lai, RVN over to the U.S. Army, thus closing the oldest Seabee camp in Vietnam. Cmdr. P. Oliver, Jr., CEC, commanding officer of NMCB 7, and the last of the battalion’s main body, departed Vietnam and arrived at Davisville, Rhode Island on this date.

1971:In a ceremony at the 21st NCR, Lt. Cmdr. D.L. McCorvey, CEC, relieved Cmdr. P. Oliver, Jr., CEC, as commanding officer of NMCB 71. Oliver then relieved Cmdr. C.V.W. Popowich, CEC, as commanding officer of NMCB 1. It was the first time in Naval Construction Force (NCF) history that a double battalion change of command ceremony was conducted.

2005: An improvised explosive device killed NMCB 18’s Navy Culinary Specialist 1st Class Regina Renee Clark of Centralia, Washington, when it detonated near her convoy vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq. Clark became the first female Seabee ever killed in action, and arguably the first female enlisted woman in the Navy ever killed in action. Two other women were killed in the vehicle with Clark from the explosion.

1965: In Costa Rica, three members of a detachment from Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 1 saved the lives of three Costa Ricans who were stranded by a six-foot-deep mud flow during a flood control project. No deaths or injuries were reported and property damage was light in the San Jose and Cartago area, where a flood in December 1963 had left nearly 5,000 homeless.

1943: ACORN 2 dissolved. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1966: Approximately 60 Seabees from Construction Battalion Center (CBC) Port Hueneme, California were sent to help fight the fire in the Los Padres National Forest, 35 miles northeast of Santa Barbara.

1944: Operation Forager, as the Marianas campaign in World War II was named, began on June 15, 1944, when 20,000 Marines and Seabees were put ashore on the beaches of Saipan. Seabees of the 121st NCB formed the shore party on the main invasion beach. By June 18, Marines captured Aslito, the main Japanese airfield on Saipan, and that very day, Seabees went to work repairing the bomb damage to the runways. Four days later, the first American fighter planes landed on the strip, and four months later, the Seabees had lengthened and widened the runways so that B-29s could take off for their first bombing of Japan. Japanese troops counterattacked against Aslito airfield and halted the Seabee construction work, but the Seabees grabbed up their arms and held them off. By July 9, Saipan was secured.

Steelworker 2nd Class Robert Stethem preparing for a dive while part of UCT-1 in the early 1980s. Stethem was killed by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon, following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 on June 15, 1985. He was posthumously awarded both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and was later made an honorary Master Chief Constructionman in a ceremony aboard USS Stethem (DDG-63). (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1985: Steelworker 2nd Class (DV) Robert Stethem is killed by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. He received posthumously both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and was promoted to honorary Master Chief Constructionman on August 24, 2010, in Yokosuka, Japan aboard the USS Stethem, named in his honor.

1991: On the island of Luzon, Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts, destroying Clark Air Base and burying Naval Station Subic Bay and Naval Air Station Cubi Point in a thick layer of ash. In the ensuing Operation Fiery Vigil, members of NMCBs 3, 4, 5, and CBMU 302 work to clear the naval facilities. By October 1991, the Seabees moved 251,000 tons of ash from over 50 miles of paved surfaces.

2010: After 672 hours of around-the-clock work, NMCB 7’s Detachment Horn of Africa (HOA) successfully drilled its first freshwater well in the village of Adgia Falima, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. This was the first of seven hand-pump operated wells scheduled to be drilled in the Dire Dawa and Shinele regions during its deployment.

1968: Seabee Team 0808 departed Bangkok, Thailand via government aircraft for the continental U.S. (CONUS).

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June 17

1833: USS Delaware was the first ship to enter the first completed U.S. Navy drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard. William P.S. Sanger, then a civil engineer apprentice, served as resident engineer during construction of the drydock.

1881: In response to a letter of April 12, 1881 from Civil Engineer Benjamin F. Chandler, CEC, U.S. Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh established that the Navy civil engineers were, in fact, officers belonging to the Navy’s staff corps, thereby entitled to be retired from active duty and placed on the retired list.

1968: The Moreell Wing of the CEC-Seabee Museum was dedicated at Port Hueneme, California. The u-shaped structure, composed of steel Butler buildings, houses the thousands of artifacts and memorabilia collected by Admiral Ben Moreell during his 29-year career in the United States Navy. Most of the souvenirs housed in the wing were collected during World War II when Admiral Moreell became the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and founded and commanded the Seabees.

The front gate at Camp Hoover, Republic of Vietnam, circa 1968. Camp Hoover was named after Steelworker 2nd Class William C. Hoover, the first Seabee killed in action in Vietnam. Although wounded in the initial Viet Cong mortar barrage at the Battle of Dong Xoai on June 10, 1965, Hoover quickly went to his assigned defensive post and began firing at the enemy. For his heroism, Hoover was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star. Also killed during the battle was Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin C. Shields, the first Seabee to receive the Medal of Honor. Both men were members of Seabee Team 1104. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)

1943: Naval Combat Demolition Unit (NCDU) training school established at Amphibious Training Base Fort Pierce, Florida. Volunteers assembled for the first classes came from the Bomb and Mine Disposal School in Washington, D.C. and from Camp Peary, Virginia (both Seabees and CEC officers).

1944:In the initial stage of the Allied invasion of Normandy, Seabees formed the nucleus of naval combat demolition units. Each demolition unit was under the command of a junior officer of the Navy Civil Engineer Corps. Team members placed explosive charges beneath the underwater steel barriers that prevented thousands of ships from reaching shore. As they were placing the charges the teams were under constant fire from the enemy. Whole teams were wiped out when shells hit their explosives. The men ignored the dangers and kept at their work. When the explosive charges were placed, survivors remained on the beach or swam back to the landing ships waiting in the channel. The explosives went off on schedule and huge holes were blown into the German defenses. Ships and landing craft darted for the shore through gaps in the barriers. Thousands of Seabees were soon manhandling their pontoon causeways onto the beach to let the infantry charge ashore.

1967:Khe Sanh came under enemy mortar attack. Builder (Light) 3rd Class C.A. Hubbard was killed in action; six men were wounded in action.

1943: ACORN 1 dissolved. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

1952: In Korea, a detachment from Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 landed behind enemy lines on the island of Yo. There they built an emergency landing airstrip for crippled U.S. Marine aircraft. The planned 2,400 foot runway had been estimated to be a 45-day project. The Seabees finished it in 16 days.

1965:Just before midnight on June 9, 1965, an estimated 2,000 Viet Cong launched an attack upon the still unfinished U.S. Special Forces camp at Dong Xoai in the Republic of Vietnam. The men of Seabee Team 1104, who were building the camp, joined with a small detachment of U.S. Army Special Forces and 400 RVN irregular forces to put up a heroic defense. At daybreak on June 10th, human wave attacks of Viet Cong made further resistance impossible, so the surviving defenders were evacuated by helicopter.

1968:An NMCB 5 patrol, patrolling the area south of Sector II on the Dong Ha Combat Base, RVN, set off an explosive device resulting in the injury of one member of the patrol, Builder (Heavy) 3rd Class T.L. Richart.

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June 10

1944:Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia disestablished.

1965: The first Seabee killed in action in Vietnam, Steelworker 2nd Class William C. Hoover, was killed at the Battle of Dong Xoai. Although wounded in the initial Viet Cong mortar barrage, Hoover quickly went to his assigned defensive post and began firing at the enemy. He was subsequently killed in the fighting. For his heroism, Hoover was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star. Also killed in the battle was Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin C. Shields, the first Seabee to receive the Medal of Honor. Both men were members of Seabee Team 1104.

In 1963, Seabee Teams were sent to Thailand to assist in the Royal Thai Government’s Accelerated Rural Development Program. In the northern provinces these diversified units taught and advised local Thais in an effort to help them form the cadre of essential rural public works organizations. Three years of diligent work in this region was finally concluded in May 1966. In this photograph, circa 1966, Seabees are installing a water well. (Photo by NAVFAC Public Affairs)

1963:The first Seabee Team to Thailand, 0902, deployed to commence the joint Seabee civic action program. Between May 1963 and December 1965, 10 Seabee Teams trained students and built roads, dams and other community projects in seven provinces in northern and northeastern Thailand.

1968:NMCB 9 main body returned to the continental United States (CONUS) on three super DC-8 passenger aircraft and two cargo/passenger aircraft. All flights terminated at Naval Air Station (NAS) Point Mugu, California, except one Super DC-8 aircraft which landed at Los Angeles International Airport (concluded 3 June).

May 29-June 3, 1968:NMCB 9 main body, consisting of 22 officers and 648 enlisted men, returned to CONUS via three Super DC-8 passenger aircraft and two C-141 cargo/passenger aircraft. All flights terminated at NAS Point Mugu, California, except for one Super DC-8 aircraft which landed at Los Angeles International Airport.

1943: ACORN 8 arrived at Noumea. Later moved to Guadalcanal, Munda and Russells for restaging and then on to Biak. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A construction battalion maintenance unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places as Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)

1944:The versatile match of Seabee and bulldozer is an image which will never be forgotten by citizens of Falmouth, England. When a German air strike exploded a fuel dump and sent a river of flaming gasoline flowing downhill toward the town, Seabee Philip Bishop, NMCB 81, quickly bulldozed a dam which stopped the channel of fire and saved the community from destruction. The bulldozer-fireman received the British Empire Medal (Military) and the enduring gratitude of an English seaport town.

1944:26th NCR commissioned.

1945: ACORN 8 decommissioned.

1965:The second section of the main body of NMCB 3 arrived in Vietnam aboard the USS Belle Grove from Guam.

1972:The Vietnam Detachment of the Commander, Naval Construction Battalions, United States Pacific Fleet was disestablished at Port Hueneme, California. The detachment exercised operational, administrative, troops and technical control over all Seabee Teams employed in Vietnam. The last Seabee Team site in Vietnam was closed in April 1972, and the RVN detachment was transferred to the 31st NCR at Port Hueneme for dissolution.

1945:114th NCB inactivated at Attu and reconstituted as CBD 1161. 134th NCB activated in the field at Guam.

1946: 140th NCB inactivated at Manus.

1965: At Chu Lai, RVN, NMCB 10 constructed a 4,000-foot aluminum plank Short Airfield for Tactical Support (SATS) for Marine Air Group 12. The first eight A-4s landed at the field on June 1, with the first air strikes launched hours later in the day.

1966:The 3rd Naval Construction Brigade, which gained renown in the Southwest Pacific area during World War II, was reestablished in Saigon, RVN, to exercise operational control over the NCRs and other directly assigned Naval Construction Force units. The brigade was commanded by Rear Adm. Robert R. Wooding, CEC.

1966:Construction Battalion Unit (CBU) 201 was commissioned at Davisville, Rhode Island, and assigned to the 21st NCR. CBU 201 would later serve in repeated deployments to the Amundsen – Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica.

1968:Seabee Teams 0101 and 0102 graduated from Seabee Team Training and were assigned to Officer in Charge, Construction Battalions, Pacific Detachment, RVN, deploying to Cha Phu and Phu Vinh, respectively.

June 2-3, 1942:Attu and Kiska, Alaska, were occupied by the Japanese after their unsuccessful attack on Dutch Harbor. Approximately 2,000 Japanese composed the Attu garrison, and the main installation at Kiska was several times larger and better developed.

1945:130th NCB, Okinawa, (Operator) Machinist Mate 2nd Class John Wiebe and (Helper) Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Harry Lehr were operating their bulldozer in a road near the beach. Suddenly they and their machine dropped out of sight. When workers nearby looked around all was emptiness except for a gaping hole. After recovering from their astonishment they walked over and looked into the chasm. About 15 feet down was the vanished dozer with Wiebe still at the controls –with a surprised look on his face. Demolition crews blasted a ramp and the “cat” was driven out and back to work by Wiebe, who received only minor lacerations from his experience.

1969: Seabee Team 7103 was assigned to the 21st NCR for 18 weeks of specialized training.

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June 3

1965: The main body of NMCB 9 departed Port Hueneme, California, aboard the USNS Blatchford for Vietnam. This was the first battalion to depart from the continental limits of the United States for duty in Vietnam. Previously, NMCB 10 had departed from Okinawa and NMCB 3 had departed from Guam. NMCB 9 arrived in Da Nang on 27 June.

On Memorial Day 1974, the Seabee Memorial Monument was dedicated. The monument is located on Memorial Drive leading to the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. It depicts the Seabee as builder, fighter and ambassador of good will. The larger-than-life-size figure of a Seabee on the monument stands in front of a semicircular bronze bas-relief on which is portrayed a panorama of Seabees in their various construction trades. (Photo by NAVFAC Public Affairs)

1966:The first five flights of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 8 departed Vietnam for the continental United State (CONUS). Seabees on the first three flights had to be transported to Da Nang airfield by helicopter because of road blocks caused by civil strife in the city of Da Nang.

1964:A team of 33 Navy Seabees and 271 tons of heavy equipment was airlifted to Costa Rica to carry out emergency flood control measures in the Mount Irazu Volcano area and along the Reventado River. The assistance was requested by the government of Costa Rica. While there, the Seabees placed more than 700,000 cubic yards of material along the dikes, and strengthened and rebuilt portions of a dike weakened by floods. Furthermore, the Seabees trained Costa Ricans to use modern flood control equipment and techniques. For their work, the Seabees received special recognition from the President of Costa Rica, as well as from several high-ranking United States officials.

2008: A joint U.S. Army-Navy-Marine Corps and Iraqi engineer group completed construction of a 301-meter bridge at Baghdadi, Iraq, over the Euphrates River. Seabee steelworkers from NMCB 17 worked with their counterparts in the Army 814th Engineer Company to weld the components together.

1965: Part of NMCB 3 main body departed Guam on the USS Belle Grove for Vietnam.

1968: NMCB 10 Detail Juliet was authorized to wear the Presidential Unit Citation by Commandant of the Marine Corps for service performed at Khe Sanh, RVN, during the period of Jan. 10 to April 1, 1968 in support of the 26th Regiment, U.S. Marines.

2012:Camp Moreell, Kuwait, formally closed during a ceremony held on Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait. The camp served as the main Seabee ground base and assembly point for all Seabees and Sailors deployed across Southwest Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

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May 24

1943:ACORN 7 arrived at Guadalcanal. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island and Majuro.)